


i'm yours now

by kinos



Category: Pentagon (Korea Band)
Genre: Angst, Fluff, M/M, happy ending uwu, i guess?, just a teeny tiny bit i swear, kitten!hyunggu, like literal kitten, probably, shapeshifter AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-06
Updated: 2018-01-29
Packaged: 2019-02-11 12:17:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 20,679
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12935112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kinos/pseuds/kinos
Summary: Yuto had fallen asleep to the sound of purring, but he wakes to the sound of snoring instead.His body freezes up almost immediately, neck stiff as he turns his head to the side, preparing himself to see a murderer in his bed or something, but-“Oh.”It’s a boy. A pretty boy. A pretty, naked boy.or the one where yuto brings a kitten home, only to find hyunggu in its place the next day





	1. I

**Author's Note:**

  * For [hyochu](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hyochu/gifts).



> an actual product of one of our many Wild conversations, my present to you ♥
> 
>  
> 
> ok but really this was supposed to be a crack fic i don't know what happened i just really really really wanted to write kitten!hyunggu???? and it was supposed to be a one-off but it got a little out of hand so expect a second part soon jdsjdjk idk how animal-human shapshifters work so just go with it and the bond thing,, think servamp minus the vampire servant part (i only watched the first episode don't yell at me) ANYWAY please enjoy this mess i am so sorry i don't know what this is
> 
> oh and rated t for language i guess

Yuto isn’t a fan of cats. Or dogs. Or any pets of the sort for that matter. It’s not like he hates them, and it’s definitely not because he’s afraid of them the way Shinwon is, it’s just… He supposes he’s not particularly fond of the idea of having to care for a small, furry creature that’s constantly needy for attention, and makes noises when it’s hungry, and probably pees everywhere. It’s like taking care of a baby, but worse. He would never be able to do it, he knows he wouldn’t, so he doesn’t know why he feels an odd tug in his chest when he sees the tiny black kitten curled up on the sidewalk outside his apartment building, its dark fur soaked from the rain, and he would’ve missed it if he hadn’t heard the quiet mews coming from it.

He hesitates, a part of him wanting to turn a blind eye, pretend he never saw it, go about on his own merry way, but then it meows again, sounding so _sad,_ and when Yuto risks a glance at it again, noticing the way its small body shakes from the cold, he feels guilt pool in his stomach. He looks around him, hoping to find anyone else who can take the cat instead, but he’s met with empty streets, and he supposes he shouldn’t have expected anyone to be out at one in the morning, especially not in this downpour. He looks at it again, and as if noticing him, it looks up at him too, and-

“Fuck,” he caves in, his willpower too weak, his heart too soft, and he bends down to scoop the poor thing into his arm, as best as he can manage while keeping his umbrella upright, and he’s not gonna lie, he feels a warmth spread through his body when it nuzzles into the crook of his arm right away.

He makes it up to his apartment as quickly as he can, taking the stairs two steps at a time, and he’s out of breath by the time he gets to his floor, but he ignores his lack of oxygen in favour of heading inside, immediately being greeted with heated air, a relief after the cold winds outside. He drops his umbrella and bag by the door, kicking off his shoes, the kitten still cradled in his arm, and it’s only until he’s set it down on his bathroom counter that he realises he has no idea what the fuck he’s supposed to do with it.

It’s still shivering, its meows growing weaker, so he figures he should do, well, _something_ soon, so he fishes out his phone from his pocket, and he’s not saying he googled _‘how to bathe a cat’_ but, that’s exactly what he did. It seems fairly simple, and there’s a lot of nonsense he’s not gonna bother with like trimming its claws or brushing its fur, or even closing the door because who would be stupid enough not to close it in the first place? And he obviously doesn’t have cat shampoo on hand, and the instructions specifically say that human shampoo is too harsh for them, so he figures water will have to do.

He fills the sink with warm water, dipping his fingers in every now and then to make sure it doesn’t get too hot, and once he’s got it ready, he turns to the little creature, eyebrows raised pointedly.

“You’re not gonna attack me once I put you in the water, right?” he asks, a babyish hum in his voice that usually only comes out whenever he has to babysit his younger cousins, and when it looks back at him silently, he almost smacks himself. “ _Right._ Why am I even talking to a fucking cat?”

He takes the kitten into his hands, holding it gently, and he prays on all his lucky stars that it doesn’t decide to pounce on him at any moment and scratch his eyes out or something. He slowly lowers it into the sink, and when he’s got the water up to its neck, he’s surprised at how quiet it is, compliant almost, just sitting there in his hands, only a tiny whine escaping its lips as if it urging Yuto to do something. So he does, lifting one hand to run water over its back, gently massaging into its fur to help warm its body up again, and maybe it’s too tired or too cold to complain, but Yuto takes the low purring that he hears then as a good sign.

He doesn’t take too long, because he’s worried that it might catch a cold from being in the water too much – _do cats even get colds?_ – and he immediately wraps it in warm towels as soon as he drains the sink, the thing looking oddly adorable with its head poking out of the bundle of towels, eyes almost sparkling as it looks up at him.

“You’re kinda cute, huh?” Yuto finds himself saying, a finger reaching out to tap its nose, and the meow he gets in return threatens to bring a smile to his face.

He dries the kitten off as much as he can, hoping that the heat flowing through his home is enough to dry off the rest as he lets it go, setting it down on the floor, and he watches as the small creature takes careful steps around the unfamiliar space, head swivelling around everywhere as though it was taking in the sights. It stops in the kitchen, as if catching the scent of food, and it lets out another loud mew, turning to Yuto expectantly.

Yuto feels bad, because he doesn’t exactly have any cat food, and he doubts that the food he does have would be suitable for a cat, and he doesn’t want to risk poisoning it or anything. So he throws an apologetic look towards it, offering a small, “I have milk, if you want?” It takes him a moment to realise again that he isn’t going to get a response, so he crosses over to the fridge, pulling out a carton of milk and a small bowl from the shelf, filling it up and setting it down in front of the kitten.

It’s more than grateful for the meal, immediately lapping up the milk like it hasn’t had anything in days, and Yuto feels even worse, making a mental note to go out and get cat food first thing tomorrow. And he stops short.

_Tomorrow?_

Is he going to keep it? He figured he’d set it free once the rain had stopped, or even let it stay the night if the rain kept going till the morning, but the thought of keeping it any longer than that hadn’t crossed his mind. Until now. But _no._ He couldn’t. He could barely manage himself, and caring for a pet wasn’t exactly cheap. Plus, between classes and work, when would he even have time to watch the poor thing? And he doesn’t like cats anyway. Right?

 _Right,_ he tells himself. He’ll send it back outside tomorrow morning. Or maybe he’ll give it away to one of his friends. He knows Hyojong prefers dogs, but he’s been so keen on getting a pet that Yuto’s sure he’d love a cat too. Or maybe Hongseok would want it, something to keep him company now that he’s finally moved out of the dorm he shared with Hwitaek in favour of getting his own place. Wooseok might want it too, he’s always had a soft spot for cats, but Shinwon would never let him bring one into their home, so that’s that.

Yuto’s so lost in his own thoughts that he doesn’t realise the kitten’s wandered over to him until he feels something nudging his leg, looking down to see the little thing brushing its head against his calf, and he glances over to see the bowl of milk empty.

“You want some more?” he asks, going over to pour more milk, but it doesn’t seem to want anymore, turning its nose away from the bowl and nuzzling against Yuto again. “No? What then? Are you tired?”

He knows he won’t get an answer, so he just takes the continuous nudging as a yes, rinsing out the bowl before he picks the kitten up, holding it in his arm as he takes it to his room. He doesn’t know if cats need beds, but he prepares a makeshift one anyway, just a bunch of blankets and small cushions in the corner of his room for it to sleep on. He lets it settle in, paws testing the soft space before it decides to curl up against one of the pillows, a small yawn making its mouth stretch wide open and Yuto can’t help but find the action awfully endearing.

“ _Kino,_ ” he says before he can help it, the name slipping out of his lips without him meaning to, and despite himself, he smiles. “You like that name? Kino?”

The thing blinks at him, head tilting, and for a moment there, its black fur seems too plain, too dull, so Yuto holds out a finger to tell it to wait, and he dashes off to the living room, miraculously finding a purple ribbon in one of the drawers that must’ve been from a present that he’d gotten from someone. He comes back to find the kitten – _Kino_ – sitting up, like it was waiting for him, so he kneels down to tie the pretty ribbon around his neck, a collar of sorts, the purple band settling nicely against his dark fur.

“There we go,” he mutters, reaching out to pat its head lightly, grinning just barely when it leans into his touch, fur soft under his palm. “Now, go to bed, Kino-ya. You must have had a long day. I know I have.”

So Yuto leaves it in its cosy little blanket bed, washing up quickly before he gets into his own bed, only then realising that the whole ordeal had taken almost two hours, the clock hitting three in the morning already, and he feels his body sink into the mattress, finally feeling the exhaustion coming over him. And he’s about to fall asleep, eyelids already heavy, but then he hears a small meow, too loud to be coming from the other side of the room, and when he cracks open an eye, he sees Kino sitting on his bed, right in front of his face.

He lets out a tired sigh, and it probably isn’t a good idea to let the thing sleep with him, because what if he crushes it? Or pushes it out of bed? It’s a risk, but he’s far too worn out to bother putting it back, and he figures it probably could use the warmth, so he pats the space next to him, and Kino crawls over right away, curling up against his arm, and Yuto falls asleep to the sound of purring.

—

Yuto had fallen asleep to the sound of purring, but he wakes to the sound of snoring instead.

His body freezes up almost immediately, neck stiff as he turns his head to the side, preparing himself to see a murderer in his bed or something, but-

“Oh.”

It’s a boy. A pretty boy. A pretty, _naked_ boy. Yuto can’t help but look at him, his eyes roaming over his face, his features delicate, soft, his skin fair, smooth, a stark contrast to the silky black hair on his head. And when his gaze lands on the boy’s neck, a familiar purple ribbon wrapped around it, split in two with the edges frayed like it had snapped somehow, Yuto feels his heart stop.

 _No._ No, no, no, no, no. That can’t be right. That can’t be him. That can’t be… Kino. His Kino. His _kitten,_ Kino. Cat. Feline. Animal. That can’t be him because that’s a _human._

But… He’s in the same place that Kino was when they’d gone to sleep, he’s got the same dark hair, and that ribbon. God, that ribbon. It’s the same ribbon he’d put around the kitten’s neck the night before, he knows it is, and he guesses it must’ve ripped when he turned into a human, and-

What the fuck is he even saying? _Turned into a human?_ Cats don’t turn into humans. They just don’t. It doesn’t happen. It does not happen, but what other explanation is there?

Yuto shakes his head, blinks his eyes, smacks himself in the face a couple of times, even pinches his own arm so hard that it might bruise, just to be sure that he isn’t dreaming, and when the boy is still there, still curled up by his side, still fast asleep, he’s convinced he’s lost his mind.

And now that he’s sure he’s gone insane, he does the first thing he can think of.

“Wooseok?”

“Yuto? What are you-” His best friend’s voice comes through the phone, still groggy from sleep, and he can hear Shinwon’s muffled voice in the background, telling him to go talk outside. “Hold on- Yeah, I’m going- Just-” He lets out a huff, sounding more awake now. “What’s up, man? It’s, like, seven in the morning.”

Yuto mutters out a quick apology, feeling bad for waking them. “I know, it’s just- I have an emergency.”

He hears panic in Wooseok’s voice, almost picturing the way his already wide eyes would go even wider. “What happened? Are you okay? Did you get into an accident?” He gasps, far too loudly than he has to, his voice dropping to a hiss. “Did you kill someone?”

“What? No!” Yuto lets out a frustrated groan, eyes rolling even though Wooseok can’t see him. “It’s not that kind of emergency. It’s just- There’s, uh, there’s a naked guy in my bed.”

Wooseok gives him a scoff, and he can hear the scowl in his voice when he says, “Just because I had a huge crush on you a million years ago doesn’t mean you should rub it in my face every time you get laid, you jerk.” Pettily, he adds, “And I have my own boyfriend now, thank you very much.”

“I wasn’t-” Another groan, and he wishes he could smack Wooseok through the phone. “I didn’t sleep with anyone last night.”

“So a naked guy just somehow found his way into your bed?”

“Yes, and no,” Yuto says, his voice starting to sound unsure. “I did bring something home with me last night, but it wasn’t a date, it was a kitten.”

Wooseok makes an excited noise. “A kitten? I love kit-”

“Listen!” he interrupts, clicking his tongue sharply. “I brought this kitten back because it was out in the rain, and it was all cold and wet, so I gave it a bath and some milk, and let it sleep with me.” He pauses, his words already sounding crazy before he’s even spoken them. “Then I woke up, and he wasn’t a kitten anymore. He was a boy. A _human_ boy.”

The other end of the line is quiet, too quiet, and for a moment, Yuto thinks Wooseok might’ve hung up, which is fair enough, he supposes, but then he hears the boy breathe out slowly.

“Adachi Yuto, if you woke me up this early on a Saturday morning just to prank me, I swear to God-”

“I’m not pranking you!” Yuto cries, damn near pulling his own hair out. “I’m serious, Wooseok. Really. He was a cat last night, and now he’s not, and I don’t know what to fucking do, okay? Will you please just- I don’t know. Just come over, and see it for yourself. Tell me I’m not crazy.”

Wooseok grumbles something unintelligible under his breath, but after a moment or two, he gives in, saying, “I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”

In the twenty minutes that it takes Wooseok to come, Yuto stands by the door of his room, peeking in every now and then to see whether the boy has woken up, letting out a small yelp and jumping away to hide behind the wall every time he so much as turns his body. And Yuto can’t help but notice that he does have a nice body, slim, lithe, his limbs graceful almost as they stretch out over his bed. He is very bare, though, and Yuto doesn’t know why he turns away when the blanket shifts, showing off the lower half of the boy’s body, and he feels his face burn.

The bell rings right then, and he’s grateful for the distraction, immediately rushing over to let Wooseok in, his friend looking like he’s ready to chop Yuto’s head off if it turns out that he was lying to him.

“Shinwon didn’t come?” is the first thing Yuto asks, a little surprised since they went almost everywhere together once they started dating. It was a bit annoying sometimes, especially when he just wanted to hang out with his best friend once in awhile, but he supposes seeing Wooseok happy was better than seeing him not-so-secretly pine after Yuto, especially since he had no intention of returning Wooseok’s feelings.

Wooseok shakes his head. “He was gonna come when he heard ‘naked guy’, but as soon as he heard ‘cat’, he just went back to sleep.”

Yuto should’ve guessed as much.

“Well?” Wooseok’s eyebrows arch sharply. “Where’s your cat boy?”

They go over to his room, standing just by the door like Yuto had earlier, and he points at the boy on his bed, clear as fucking day.

“See!”

“See _what?_ ” Wooseok says, turning to him with a puzzled look. “That’s just a normal guy.”

“Well, yeah, but-”

Wooseok presses the back of his hand to Yuto’s forehead, like he was checking for a fever. “Are you sure you didn’t drink too much last night or something? Maybe you forgot you brought a guy home, and just dreamt the whole kitten in the rain thing.”

Yuto swats his hand away, a scowl twisting his lips. “I was studying in the library the whole night, you idiot. When would I have gotten drunk?” He puffs out a harsh breath. “And I didn’t dream it. It happened, I know it did. Look, there’s the little bed I made for him, and the towels I used to dry him off after his bath, and-” He tugs Wooseok further into the room, pointing at the boy’s neck. “And see that purple ribbon? I tied that around his neck last night as a collar, and it’s still there.”

Wooseok gives him a look, his face scrunched up like he’s about to say something along the lines of ‘I think you’ve completely lost it, Yuto-ya’, but before he can, Yuto pouts at him, his voice desperate when he says, “You have to believe me, Wooseokie. That’s Kino, I know it is.”

“ _Kino?_ ” Wooseok gapes at him. “You named him?”

Yuto falters at the accusation, sounding awfully defensive when he says, “He had a cute yawn! I had to.”

His friend buries his face in his hands, his groan muffled, but obviously not enough, because the sound is loud enough to make the boy stir, letting out a long whine as he stretches awake, and the two turn their head towards him, eyes bulging out of their sockets.

He doesn’t seem to notice them, eyelids still hooded as he rolls out of the bed, landing on his feet gracefully, the blanket falling away from his body, and-

“K-Kino?”

The boy stills, only then realising that there are other people in the room, and he turns to them slowly, registering their faces, and when he follows their gazes, eyes quite obviously staring at his crotch, his _human_ crotch, it hits him.

He doesn’t get a chance to say anything, his body going into panic mode, and suddenly, he feels himself grow small again, the fur on his back and the senses in his whiskers a familiar comfort to him, his view of the world restricted to just the sight of their feet now. And then he hears one of them, the one who took him in, scream, “I told you he was a fucking cat!”

“Dude, he’s a fucking cat!” the other yells back, sounding even more distraught, and the noise freaks him out, making him leap onto the bed again, hiding himself under the blanket, his self-defence mechanism making him hiss at the two loudly.

“Stop screaming, Wooseok!” Yuto scolds, smacking his arm. “You’re scaring him.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, I’m usually more quiet when I meet a _human-cat shapeshifter-_ ”

Yuto glares at him, his hands balling into fists in frustration. “Just- _Shit._ Go wait outside.”

“What?”

“Let me talk to him alone.”

“But-”

“ _Wooseok._ ”

The boy is reluctant, but eventually he lets out a heavy sigh, calling out a half-hearted, “Fine,” as he trudges out of the room, leaving Yuto with the kitten-boy alone.

“Kino?” Yuto approaches the bed slowly, seeing the small bump under the blanket where he’s hidden, and he sits on the edge, a hand hovering over him, afraid that he might bite if he tries to touch him. “Can I talk to you?”

He just gets a low growl in answer, and he supposes he deserves that. He sighs, slowly lowering his hand, patting him just barely. “Please, Kino-ya? It’s just me.”

It takes a moment or two, but the figure under the covers grows bigger, resembling a human again, and the boy sits up, hair disheveled now, the blanket thankfully covering his bottom half, and the sour look on his face is definitely one that resembles a cat.

“Your friend is really noisy,” he grumbles, lips forming a pout, nose twitching, and Yuto’s surprised he can actually speak.

Yuto flashes an apologetic look, giving him a tight smile. “Sorry about that, he just gets a bit excited sometimes.”

The boy lets out a bored hum, then his eyes flicker up to meet Yuto’s, the same sparkling eyes that looked at him last night, and he says, “That’s not my name, you know.”

“I’m sorry?”

“Kino.” He lifts a shoulder, head tilting. “It’s cute, but it’s not my name.”

Yuto flushes in embarrassment, feeling stupid for even coming up with the name in the first place. “What is your name then?”

“Hyunggu,” he quips, a proud smile stretching his lips, and it’s not a name Yuto would expect for a cat, but it’s a pretty name nonetheless, more suited for the boy, he supposes.

“Hyunggu,” Yuto repeats, the name rolling off his tongue easily. “Okay, Hyunggu. Wanna tell me what’s going on?”

The boy begins to squirm, avoiding Yuto’s eyes, but Yuto clicks his tongue, grabbing his attention again, looking at him pointedly.

“Come on now,” he tries to coax him, voice as gentle as it was when he was speaking to him as a kitten. “One second you’re a cat, the next you’re a human. You can’t expect me not to wonder what that’s about.”

Hyunggu puffs out his cheeks, still refusing to say anything, but Yuto pokes at his bare chest, the contact making him squeak, and he glowers at him the way a cat would, tongue sticking out between his lips. But he gives in anyway, saying, “That’s just the way I am. The way I’ve always been. But-”

“But?”

“I haven’t been human for a long time,” he admits, hands twisting together nervously in his lap, and Yuto fights the urge to hold them. “I preferred staying in my cat form.”

“How come?” Yuto asks, genuinely wondering why someone would choose to be an animal over being a person.

Hyunggu gives him a shrug of his shoulders. “It’s easier. I don’t have to worry about wearing clothes, or paying for things, or finding a place to live, or going to school.” He quirks a cheeky smile. “And I’m much cuter as a kitty, don’t you think?”

Yuto doesn’t know why he wants to tell him that he thinks he’s cute either way, doesn’t know why he would even think that, so he swallows his words, instead saying, “But then you could end up cold and hungry like last night, so…”

“There are bad days,” he agrees. “But humans have bad days too, right?”

Yuto supposes he is right, and if he feels like being a kitten is better, then, well, Yuto doesn’t really have a right to tell him otherwise. But… “Why did you turn into a human now, though?”

The question makes Hyunggu think, because he isn’t too sure himself, really. “I can usually control it,” he tells Yuto, a frown slowly tugging his lips down. “But I hadn’t eaten in days, and it’s been really cold out lately. I guess I was just getting a little weak.” He shakes it off, a bright smile replacing the frown immediately. “But I’m okay now. All thanks to you.”

“No, that was nothing-”

He reaches out a hand to rest on top of Yuto’s, and Yuto gulps, noticing the fact that his skin is just as soft as his fur was.

“Really,” he insists, still smiling. “You didn’t have to do all that, but you did, so thank you, uh…”

“Yuto,” he answers, and Hyunggu’s smile widens.

“Thank you, Yuto.”

Yuto feels his heart flutter in his chest, and he knows he’s probably burning bright red, the boy’s hand still atop his, and before he blurts out anything embarrassing, he asks, “What now?”

“Hmm?”

“I- I mean, no offense, Hyunggu, it’s been nice, but if you’re planning on turning back into a kitten, I can’t exactly afford to have a pet,” Yuto tells him honestly. “And if you’re planning on staying as a human, well…”

The realisation only seems to hit Hyunggu right then, the boy sucking in a sharp breath, and he whispers, “Oh no.”

Yuto’s stomach drops. “Oh no? What do you mean, oh no?”

“Kino,” he says, a groan in the back of his throat, smacking his hands to his cheeks. “Kino! You named me ‘Kino’.”

“Okay, I get it, you don’t like the name. I’m sorry!” Yuto doesn’t understand what this has to do with anything. “But-”

Hyunggu shakes his head roughly, looking distressed. “No, you don’t understand!” he cries out. “You _named_ me. I’m bound to you now.”

Yuto stops. Blinks. Blinks again. “You’re what?”

“I am bound to you,” he repeats slowly, pronouncing every syllable as though Yuto was an idiot. “Tied. Bonded. Linked. Whatever you wanna call it. I’m yours now. I belong to you.”

Yuto feels lightheaded, like the floor is giving out right under him, like he’s falling, because not only does he have a human-cat shapeshifter in his bed, but now, said shapeshifter _belongs_ to him. All because he thought it’d be cute to give the little yawning creature a silly name.

“What does that even mean?” Yuto asks, hands coming up to press against his temples. “Are we, like, stuck to each other now? I can’t go anywhere without you by my side, is that it?”

Hyunggu makes a noise, rolling his eyes at him. “No, don’t be silly. Of course you can leave me behind, but not for too long.” He pauses, thinking. “Three hours at a time, at most.”

“ _Three hours?_ What happens if I’m not with you for longer than that?”

“I’ll die.”

Yuto’s eyes almost pop out of his skull, and Hyunggu just lets out a laugh, the sound airy and bright, eyes twinkling with amusement.

“No, I’m just being dramatic,” he says, waving a lazy hand at him. “But I will get sick if you’re gone too long. It won’t be too bad at first, but it could get to the point of being serious, and trust me, it’s not pretty.” He swallows thickly, taking on a more serious tone now. “See, when I’m bound to someone, I’m bound to their energy, so the longer, the further you’re away from me, the weaker the bond gets, and the weaker I get.”

“What… I mean… How could…” Yuto tries to understand it all, tries to find his breath, but everything just seems so insane to him right now. “Why didn’t you stop me? If you knew this would happen when I named you, why’d you let me do it?”

“What was I supposed to do?” Hyunggu shoots back with a huff. “Meow at you in Morse code?”

The sharp look Yuto sends him right then makes him scoot away a little, just slightly afraid of him.

“I’m sorry! It’s just-” That pout of his finds its way back onto his lips, his eyebrows pulling tightly, forehead creased. “No one’s ever named me as quickly as you did, and I’m usually gone before I let it happen. But if it does happen, I’m still in cat form anyway, so I just stick around until the bond wears off and disappear again, and no one suspects a thing. I figured it’d be the same with you, but then I turned back into a human, and _well._ ”

“So it does wear off?” Yuto sounds hopeful, and he feels a rush of relief flood through him when Hyunggu nods. “How long does it take?”

The boy hums thoughtfully, and from the way he’s counting under his breath, it seems like this has happened a lot more often that he led on. “A month, usually,” he says eventually.

“A _month?_ ”

“But it’s different for everyone,” he adds quickly. “Sometimes it’s longer, sometimes shorter. It depends on how strong the bond is.”

Yuto doesn’t want to think about how strong their bond could be, doesn’t want to think about the fact that they have a bond at all, and the rational part of him is telling him that he shouldn’t even take his word about the whole bond thing, that he’s probably just using it as an excuse to leech off of Yuto for a month, but all sense of rationality was thrown out the window as soon as the boy literally _poofed_ into a kitten right in front of his eyes.

And when he thinks of sending Hyunggu back out into the world, knowing that he could end up sick or hurt all alone because of Yuto, he feels that same tug in his chest, that same guilt in his gut as the one he felt when he saw Hyunggu in the rain last night, and-

“Well, I guess I’m getting a pet after all, huh?” Yuto says eventually, a tired smile lacing his lips, and a wide grin splits Hyunggu’s face in two, the boy practically pouncing on him right away, tackling him to the ground before he remembers he isn’t a kitten at the moment, his bare body falling right on top of Yuto’s.

They jump apart immediately, getting to their feet, both their faces flushing in embarrassment, and Yuto turns away as Hyunggu wraps the blanket around himself again, unable to meet his eyes.

“What was that noise?” Wooseok asks, barging into the room. “Did the cat attack you-”

He stops short when he sees that Hyunggu’s back in his human form, and he shakes his head, squeezing his eyes open and shut, as if he still can’t seem to grasp the fact that Hyunggu is real.

“Hi,” Hyunggu says, and Wooseok jumps, letting out a high-pitched squeak.

“He talks,” Wooseok mutters, more to himself than anyone, really, eyes widening. “The cat talks.”

Yuto rolls his eyes at the boy, shuffling closer to Hyunggu almost protectively, and he might’ve imagined it, but he thinks Hyunggu moves closer to him too. And he tells Wooseok, “He's not ‘the cat’. His name is Hyunggu, and…”

“And?”

“I’m keeping him.”


	2. II

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> next part is here!! this was super fun to write honestly and i did try to keep the whole thing happy and cute but well.. i'm evil ! its not much i swear it just gets a tiny bit sad at the end (for me at least) but Yes i hope you all like it anyway and keep an eye out for the third (and probably final) part!

The first week is difficult; Hyunggu getting used to his human body, Yuto getting used to having someone else to care for.

The boy refuses to put on any clothes at first, saying it’s ‘unnatural’, choosing to roam around the house butt naked, completely unashamed. And Yuto had grown unfazed by it, no longer burning red every time he sees a glance of his crotch, but really, he can’t risk anyone somehow seeing a nude boy in his home, so he switches off the heater one day, watching as Hyunggu begins to freeze to his bones in his bare skin until he finally caves in and lets Yuto dress him in a sweater that’s a size too big for him, looking quite cute, if he’s being honest.

“I guess this is kinda nice,” he admits after a while, hugging the warm sweater to his body, and Yuto smiles, pleased with himself.

Getting him dressed was one thing, but getting him to eat was another, the boy’s palate already far too accustomed to cat’s food to find human food appetising. He spits out everything Yuto tries to feed him, from chicken to beef to even fish. He thought that last one would work, but it seems the only fish he likes is the disgusting, slimy thing that’s stuffed into tiny cans and passed off as edible. He hates the smell, and he hates watching Hyunggu eat it, licking it off his plate, gettting it smothered all over his face, but as long as the boy doesn’t starve, then he supposes that’s okay.

Unsurprisingly, Hyunggu finds a liking to Samanco, the idea of a fish-shaped ice cream sandwich amusing to him.

“I haven’t had ice cream in forever!” he exclaims when he bites into the cold dessert, his face lighting up immediately.

“Well, you can’t have it everyday,” Yuto tells him, eyeing the way he wolfs down the ice cream, the thing gone in a second, and he should’ve seen it coming when Hyunggu protests, accusing Yuto of ‘depriving him of his needs’. He really is a dramatic one.

So, they make a deal; for every normal, proper human meal that Hyunggu eats, he gets to have one ice cream. It’s a compromise, not a very good one because now, Yuto has to stock up on the silly dessert, but it’s better than stocking up on wet food, and at least Hyunggu is eating better now.

Eating habits aside, the boy still isn’t fully accustomed to living in his human body, tripping over his own feet sometimes when he forgets that he has legs, and it makes Yuto laugh. And sometimes, on days where he really does forget that he’s a human now, Yuto finds him padding around the house on all fours, or stretched out over the couch, licking at his hand as though he was grooming himself.

Yuto catches his saliva-covered hand before he can wipe it against his hair, telling him, “Not like that, Hyunggu.”

Before Hyunggu can say anything, he drags the boy over to the bathroom, pushing him towards the shower and handing him a clean towel.

“There,” he says, letting go of Hyunggu’s hand to reach for the knob instead, showing him how to turn the water on and off. “Shower.”

Yuto leaves him, shutting the door behind him and he hopes that he hasn’t been out of touch with his human self long enough to completely forget what a shower is. He doesn’t hear the water running for a while though, and after almost ten whole minutes of silence, he decides to go check on him, a part of him worried that he might’ve slipped or something.

But instead he finds the boy standing upright, hands on his hips, his clothes and towel discarded to the side, leaving him completely bare again. Yuto flinches when he sees him, eyes pressing shut, but he recovers quickly, asking, “Why aren’t you showering?”

“I was waiting for you,” Hyunggu says bluntly, tapping his foot impatiently.

“Me?”

Hyunggu gives him a ‘duh’ look. “Yeah, you’re supposed to bathe me.”

Yuto sucks in a long breath, his patience wearing thin already, but he just goes over to him, grabbing him by the shoulders to turn him towards the shower and he says, “You’re bathing yourself.”

“But-”

“No buts.”

He ignores the boy’s whining, leaving the bathroom again, and he waits outside the door until he hears the water start running, all the way until it stops. And when Hyunggu steps out of the bathroom, dripping wet as he shoves the towel at Yuto’s chest, holding his arms up like a child, saying, “I _showered,_ now you dry,” Yuto decides to indulge him just this once, towelling him dry, wrapping the flimsy thing around his body, before he dresses him in another one of his too-big sweaters, a smile twitching at the corner of his lips when Hyunggu practically drowns in it.

The first night that Hyunggu spends with him – or second, if you count the one where he was in his kitten form – Yuto sets up the couch as best as he can, making sure to give Hyunggu plenty of pillows and blankets to make him as comfortable and warm as possible. Yuto ignores the sad pout on his face when he tucks him in, telling him, “I’ll be in my room just over there if you need anything, okay?”

Hyunggu nods, but the small frown doesn’t leave his lips.

“Goodnight, Hyunggu-ya,” he says, patting the boy’s head gently just like he had the night before, and just like then, Hyunggu presses into the touch, eyes blinking at him widely as though asking him not to leave him out there on his own. Before his willpower grows weak again, Yuto flashes a quick smile, saying, “I’ll see you in the morning.”

He disappears into his own room, getting under the covers before he can change his mind, forcing himself to just close his eyes and fall asleep. But he _can’t,_ his mind still wide awake, his thoughts on him, on Hyunggu, and he doesn’t even realise that the boy had snuck in until he feels the mattress dip, a small body latching onto his side, skinny arms hugging his own, legs wrapping around his waist, and he hears Hyunggu mumble out a tired, “It’s too cold out there.”

They shouldn’t, they really shouldn’t, because Yuto doesn’t want to get used to this, doesn’t want to get too attached, but when the boy nuzzles his head into the crook of Yuto’s neck, he can’t help but rest his head against his, his free arm wounding around the boy to pull him closer.

“Yeah,” Yuto says back, lips brushing the boy’s hair, and he doesn’t know who he’s trying to convince. “It is too cold.”

The next few nights go the same way, Hyunggu trying and failing to sleep alone in the living room, crawling into Yuto’s bed like it was his own, and Yuto will never admit it, but every night, he waits for Hyunggu to come, only finding sleep once he feels the boy by his side. And eventually, by the fifth night, Hyunggu doesn’t even bother trying, his makeshift bed on the couch abandoned in favour of sleeping with Yuto as soon as it’s bedtime, already claiming his spot next to him, limbs curling around the taller boy expertly as though he’d been doing it his whole life.

Again, Hyunggu tells him, “It’s too cold out there.” Then he shuffles closer, pressing right up against Yuto, and he says, “But you’re warm. I like it.”

And well, Yuto supposes he’s gonna have to get used to it after all.

—

Yuto had already skipped an entire week of classes, and called in sick to work on the weekends too, and it’s not because he’s too afraid to leave Hyunggu alone, but… he’s definitely too afraid to leave Hyunggu alone.

See, he’s still not entirely convinced about the whole bond thing, because it’s not like there’s been any proof of it, no invisible chains tying them together, no electric shock zapping him if he gets too far, and if there were, Hyunggu hasn’t made any effort to show him. But just the thought of anything bad happening to the poor boy is enough to keep Yuto from walking out the door every morning.

He can’t keep it up forever though, because he’s getting not-so-gentle reminders about his assignment deadlines, his friends have been asking where the fuck he is, and Wooseok can only lie to them for so long, and on top of that, his boss tells him that if he misses one more day of work, he’s fired. A part of him doesn’t mind it, really, because working at a convenience store isn’t exactly the best job around, but he knows he needs the extra cash, especially now that he’s got Hyunggu and his ice cream addiction to think about.

So he sits Hyunggu down that Monday morning, the boy grumbling about being woken up too early, after the past week was spent lazing in bed together until noon.

“I gotta go to class today,” he starts, but Hyunggu still seems out of it, nodding off right there, so he shakes him by the shoulders, one hand coming up to pinch his cheek. “Hyunggu, did you hear me? I need to go to class.”

“You’re leaving me?” Hyunggu asks through a yawn, eyes finally blinking open.

Yuto tries not to smile at the yawn, the gesture as adorable as it was when he was a kitten, and he takes Hyunggu’s hands in his, squeezing just a little. “Just for a while. I’ll come back between classes to check on you, okay?” It’ll be a bit of extra work to go back and forth between campus, but it isn’t too far and Yuto’s not about to test the boundaries of that three-hour rule this early on.

“Why can’t I just come with you?” Hyunggu asks. “I mean, I won’t go into your classes, I’ll just hang around outside or something.”

Yuto had thought of that, and it would make him feel better if Hyunggu was close to him at all times, but… “I can’t risk it. What if someone sees you? Then I’d have to explain who you are, and why you’re living with me. And what if you get overwhelmed and poof back into a cat like the other day? It’s just-” He sighs, leaning his head down to press it against their joined hands. “I think it’s better if you stay here for now.”

Hyunggu already doesn’t look too happy about being left alone, a small frown lacing his lips, but then Yuto says, “But don’t worry, Wooseok will come over to hang out with you,” and his face completely twists into something sour, mouth curling down.

“That loud giant?” he scoffs, making a noise of protest, but Yuto just shakes his head tiredly.

“I know you two started off on the wrong foot, but he’s a good guy. He means well,” Yuto tells him. “And if it’s easier for you, you can stay as a kitten. I think he’d like that, and neither of you have to worry about making conversation.”

Hyunggu considers it, and it’s not really up for debate anyway since Yuto seriously can’t afford to miss anymore classes, and he’d only feel comfortable leaving if he knew that there was someone watching over Hyunggu, grateful that Wooseok’s schedule miraculously doesn’t clash with his.

Wooseok shows up right then, and Hyunggu immediately morphs back into a kitten, the small creature stepping out from under the sweater he was wearing, limbs stretching out as though he was getting used to his feline body again.

“You’ll be okay, right?” Yuto asks, and Wooseok’s the one who answers instead, saying, “We’ll be fine, Yuto-ya.”

Yuto gives him a dry look, turning back to Hyunggu in question, and the cat nudges his head against Yuto’s palm gently, so he takes that as a yes, ruffling his fur before he stands.

“Thanks for doing this, man,” he says to Wooseok, and his friend waves him off, telling him not to worry about it. “Call me if anything happens, okay?”

Wooseok nods, again and again until Yuto’s by the door, and he has to push the guy out, telling him for the millionth time, “We’ll be alright! Now, _go,_ you’re gonna be late.”

Yuto pokes his head back in one last time to call out, “Bye, Hyunggu!” and he almost tears up when he hears a loud meow in return, and Wooseok has to kick him, laughing as he rushes down the hall, yelling out, “You’re so whipped, Yuto!”

He can barely focus in class, his mind constantly wandering back to Hyunggu, worried about whether or not he’s okay, wondering if he’s scratched Wooseok’s face off yet. He bolts as soon as the class ends, running right back to the apartment, and he’s surprised when he finds Wooseok on the floor, lying on his back, laughter ringing loudly as Hyunggu crawls over him, fluffy tail tickling his neck.

“Oh, hey,” Wooseok says when he sees Yuto, grinning up at him and Hyunggu comes over to wrap himself around Yuto’s leg as a hello, and Yuto crouches down to pet him, already missing him even though it’s only been an hour.

“Told you we’d be okay, right?” Wooseok sits up, and Yuto thanks him again, apologising because he has to leave right away if he’s gonna make it to his next class on time. Wooseok shakes his head, telling him it’s fine, and he pats his lap, calling out, “Come here, Kino-ya.”

And Yuto smiles when he sees that Hyunggu happily bounds over to him, hopping right into his lap and he’s glad that it didn’t take long for him to warm up to Wooseok. It’s much better than leaving him completely on his own.

Yuto goes to and fro from home and classes, a little exhausted by the constant commute, but every time he comes back to see Hyunggu getting along with Wooseok, still alive and healthy, it’s worth it. It takes only three days for Hyunggu to be comfortable enough with him to turn back into a human, and Yuto thinks it’s partly because he’s learned that Wooseok is a little bit of an idiot and he’s more than easy to persuade, and Hyunggu’s somehow convinced the boy that he’s allowed to have _two_ ice creams after eating his meals.

Yuto gives Hyunggu a sharp look when he finds out, only to get a cheeky grin in return before the boy pops the last bit of ice cream in his mouth, and despite himself, he feels a fond smile pulling at his lips, an odd warmth in his chest.

He isn’t surprised, though, because even he himself has been prone to Hyunggu’s tricky ways, giving in to almost everything the boy asks for, finding it hard to resist the way he pouts his lips and bats his eyelashes. And there’s also the fact that whenever Hyunggu doesn’t get his way, he makes it a point to turn back into a cat for the sole purpose of peeing on Yuto’s side of the bed, playing innocent whenever Yuto tries to scold him for it.

The arrangement goes well enough, until Hyojong stops him right as he’s about to leave his last class of the week, the elder smaller than him, but still strong enough to keep him from moving, grip firm on Yuto’s arm.

“What the hell is up with you?” he asks, voice coming out a little harsh, and Yuto tries not to flinch, flashing a smile, playing dumb.

“What do you mean, hyung?”

“ _I mean,_ where have you been rushing off to everyday?” is what Hyojong says, eyebrows raising in question. “I feel like I barely see you now. What’s going on?”

Yuto isn’t sure what to say, because he’d rather not explain the whole situation, not wanting to complicate things any further, but Hyojong doesn’t look like he’ll take any bullshit for an answer, so Yuto’s forced to say _something._

“I got a kitten,” he blurts out, and it isn’t a lie, not really. “He needs to be fed really often, so I’ve been going home between classes to make sure he gets his food.”

Almost immediately, Hyojong’s cold stance melts away, a bright grin lighting up his face and he tugs on Yuto’s arm excitedly. “You got a kitten? Why didn’t you tell me? Can I meet him?”

Hyojong doesn’t give Yuto a chance to answer, already pulling him along, heading back to Yuto’s place, and Yuto tries to call Wooseok on the way, but the guy isn’t picking up his phone. He does his best to stay calm, a tight smile on his face as he and Hyojong make their way up to his floor, and he rushes over to get into the apartment before Hyojong does.

“Where’s Hyunggu?” Yuto asks Wooseok as soon as he’s inside, and Wooseok almost chokes on the piece of chicken he was chewing on, coughing out, “Bathroom. Why? What’s happ- Oh, _hey,_ Hyojong-hyung. What are you doing here?”

“I’m here to see Yuto’s new kitty!” Hyojong says, almost bouncing on his heels, and Wooseok sends a wide-eyed look at Yuto, but Yuto just jerks his head, gesturing at him to deal with Hyojong.

He bursts into the bathroom to find Hyunggu washing his hands, and he smiles, about to say hello when Yuto clamps a hand over his mouth, shaking his head.

“I need you to turn back into a cat,” Yuto says, an alarmed tone in his voice. “Right now.”

Hyunggu’s voice is muffled from behind Yuto’s hand. “What? Why? Me and Wooseokie are fine-”

“It’s not Wooseok, it’s someone else. He- He asked me where I kept disappearing to and I panicked and said I got a kitten, so he’s here right now to meet my kitten, so I just need you to be a fucking kitten, okay?”

Hyunggu doesn’t appreciate the swearing, scowling at him when Yuto finally lets him go, grumbling under his breath as he steps out of his clothes. “When I’m a cat, you want me to be a human. When I’m a human, you want me to be a cat. Can’t do anything right in this house-”

He does it anyway, though, and Yuto picks up the tiny animal once he does, cradling him in his arms as he takes him out to meet Hyojong.

“There he is!” Wooseok calls out when he sees them, letting out an awkward laugh, sounding relieved. “Our little Kino.”

Hyojong lets out an excited gasp when he sees the black bundle in Yuto’s arms, running over to greet him, but when he reaches out a hand to pet him, Hyunggu hisses at the unfamiliar person, sharp teeth nipping at his hand.

“Hyunggu, no biting,” Yuto scolds without thinking, then Hyojong frowns.

“I thought his name is Kino,” he says slowly, and Yuto freezes.

“Kino is his middle name,” Wooseok quips, his words sounding stupid as soon as they leave his mouth, but it’s better than nothing, and Yuto nods in agreement.

“Oh.” Hyojong lifts an unbothered shoulder, accepting the answer easily, that eager grin back on his face as he tries to approach the kitten again, cooing at it. “It’s okay, Hyunggu-Kino-whatever your name is. I’m nice, I swear.”

Hyunggu seems to eye him carefully, but he lets Hyojong take him from Yuto, still prickly towards the new person, but it only takes about ten minutes and two cat treats for Hyunggu to develop a liking to him.

“Why do you even have those on hand?” Yuto asks, genuinely confused as to how Hyojong just happened to have a pack of treats in his coat pocket.

“I give them to the stray cats that I see on campus sometimes,” is Hyojong’s simple answer, his voice honest. “I have dog treats too if you’re hiding a puppy somewhere in here.”

Yuto almost laughs at him, but he’s grateful that Hyunggu’s comfortable with him, because it’s Hyojong who takes care of him over the weekend while Yuto works, timing his breaks carefully so that he’s never away from Hyunggu for more than three hours at a time.

“You know you don’t have to come check in on us all the time, right?” Hyojong says at one point, Hyunggu balanced on his shoulders, tail curling around his face. “We’re fine here.”

“I know, I just-” Yuto tries to come up with an excuse, but he can’t think of any, so he just says the first thing that comes to mind, the words leaving his lips before he can help it. “I miss him.”

Hyojong lets out an ‘aww’ at that, patting Yuto’s chest. “That’s sweet, Yuto-ya. I never really had you pegged as the pet type of guy. Little Kino must’ve really stolen your heart, huh?”

Yuto catches a glimpse of Hyunggu’s face, a knowing look in the cat’s dark eyes, and he quirks a half-smile, saying, “Yeah, I guess he did.”

—

Two weeks turns into three, and Hyunggu’s gotten the hang of things enough that he tells Yuto he doesn’t need Wooseok or Hyojong to come over anymore.

“It’s not that I don’t like them,” he says from where he’s lying upside down on their bed, head hanging off the edge. “It’s just a little tiring to keep up with them. Especially Hyojong. He’s too… energetic for me.”

Yuto thinks back to the one time he came home to find Hyunggu chasing Hyojong around the house to get his treats, his little legs trying to match the boy’s pace, Hyojong laughing gleefully every time Hyunggu just barely misses him, and Yuto understands what he means.

“Fair enough,” he says, then he goes over to lift Hyunggu’s head onto the bed, clicking his tongue. “And stop doing that. The blood will rush to your head.” Without thinking, he leans down to kiss the boy’s forehead, pulling back immediately once he realises what he’s doing.

“Sorry,” Yuto says, voice squeaky suddenly, and Hyunggu just blushes, a warm pink tinting his cheeks.

See, when Yuto thinks about it, it’s not like it’s that big of a deal. After seeing each other naked more than a few times – Hyunggu has a bad habit of walking in on Yuto when he’s changing, the concept of knocking on doors foreign to him – and sharing a bed together every night, they’re more than comfortable with each other. Hand holding and hugs come easily to them, especially when Hyunggu’s constantly curling up to him the way a cat would, almost always clinging to Yuto whenever he’s home. And he tells himself that it’s just Hyunggu’s need for affection, attention, something he’s gotten used to after spending so much time as a kitten, being spoiled from home to home. Nothing more than that.

So it isn’t a big deal, except it is. Because _kissing,_ now that’s something else entirely. And sure, it’s just a kiss on the forehead, but it seems to spark something in Hyunggu, a curiosity of sorts.

And Yuto sees it later that night, when they’re tucked into bed, facing each other, bodies pressed up against the other’s like always, ready to sleep, but Hyunggu’s eyes are still wide open, bottom lip between his teeth, like he’s waiting for something.

“What is it, Hyunggu-ya?” Yuto asks, voice barely a murmur in the quiet room, his finger absentmindedly tracing patterns onto the boy’s back.

“Just now, that thing…” he starts, sounding hesitant, unsure. “That was a kiss, right? You kissed me?”

Yuto feels heat rise under his skin, silently grateful that the room is dark enough to hide it, and he clears his throat, shifting uncomfortably. “Yeah,” he coughs out. “Sorry about that. It won’t happen again.”

“No!” Hyunggu says too quickly, too loudly, and he seems to bite down on his own tongue to calm himself. “I- I mean, _no,_ it’s okay. It was… It was nice.”

“Oh.” Yuto forces back a stupid smile, nodding his head slowly. Then, with a small voice, he asks, “Can I- Can I do it again?”

The boy nods in answer, and Yuto tips forward to press a soft kiss to his forehead again, heart squeezing in his chest when he pulls back to see Hyunggu’s face scrunched up cutely, crinkles around the corners of his eyes.

Yuto thought Hyunggu would fall asleep after that, his curiosity quelled, but he still refuses to, squirming against Yuto’s body like he still wants something.

He heaves a tired sigh, because it’s getting late and he has a nine o’clock class tomorrow morning. He reaches up to brush a lock of hair from the boy’s eyes, asking, “What now, Hyunggu?”

“I just-” Hyunggu can’t seem to find the words for it, swallowing thickly, eyes flickering up to meet Yuto’s, then, before Yuto can say anything else, he leans up, crashing his lips against Yuto’s.

And _okay._

It’s a little messy, or, well, a _lot_ messy. It’s obvious that Hyunggu’s never kissed anyone before, nose bumping against Yuto’s, teeth clashing, and Yuto can’t help but laugh into the kiss, breaking it for a moment only to catch his breath and kiss him again, properly this time. He’s gentle, moving his lips slowly, sweetly, and his hand finds its way to the back of Hyunggu’s neck, tugging lightly at the soft hair on his nape, making the boy let out a small gasp into his mouth.

They have to stop eventually, because Hyunggu sounds like he’s running out of air, and it is getting rather late.

“Happy now?” Yuto asks, and he gets a nod and a pleased hum in return.

“I saw that the other day,” Hyunggu tells him honestly, nothing but innocence in his tone. “Kissing, I mean. On Hyojong’s computer thingy. There were these people kissing, and then they started taking off their clothes-”

“Whoa!” Yuto stops him there, head falling against Hyunggu’s as he lets out a shaky laugh. “Let’s not talk about that, okay?”

Hyunggu agrees with no argument, oblivious as to what it really was, and Yuto makes a mental note to give Hyojong a good whack on the head the next time he sees him.

“Goodnight, Yuto,” Hyunggu says, snuggling into Yuto’s chest, breathing him in.

Yuto places one more kiss to the crown of his head, because he can, and he smiles to himself. “Goodnight, Hyunggu.”

—

It’s in the middle of the fourth week when it happens, Yuto drowning in schoolwork, Hyunggu lonely at home.

Yuto had been skeptical about leaving Hyunggu unsupervised, but the boy assured him that he’d be fine, that he knew how to take care of himself, that Yuto would still come check on him every three hours, right?

“I will,” he tells Hyunggu, and when Hyunggu asks, “Promise?” Yuto wraps his pinky around his smaller one, bringing their joined fingers to his lips.

“I promise,” Yuto says, and he does, sometimes coming back with sweets or games to keep Hyunggu occupied, continuously apologising for leaving him on his own, offering endless kisses in a way to make up for it.

Except there’s a day when everything’s a little too much, deadlines on his ass, studying to be done, the bitter cups of caffeine useless to him now and with the pitter-patter of the rain against the window lulling him to sleep, Yuto doesn’t realise he’s completely dozed off in the library until the old lady who works at the counter wakes him, telling him that they’re closing up.

“What? Closing? What time is-” Yuto jolts awake, heart jumping up his throat when he realises it’s been half a day, and that means- “ _Hyunggu._ ”

He’s never run this fast in his entire life, legs burning, chest pounding, feeling like his head is about to explode. He almost trips on the way, the streets slippery from rain, but he keeps going, panic rising in him.

“Hyunggu!” He bursts into the apartment, door slamming shut behind him, dropping everything on the floor. “Hyunggu, where are you?”

Yuto checks the living room, the kitchen, their bedroom, but he finds Hyunggu in the bathroom, curled up on himself in the corner by the toilet bowl, and the small room reeks of vomit, the boy’s body shaking violently where he’s sat.

_But I will get sick if you’re gone too long. Trust me, it’s not pretty._

“Fuck, Hyunggu, I-” Yuto rushes over to him, pulling him into his arms, the boy weighing almost nothing, and when Hyunggu realises who it is, he lets out a broken sob, clutching at Yuto’s shirt, pressing his face into his chest, and he’s cold, so cold, sending shivers up Yuto’s spine when he touches him.

It sounds like he’s saying something, his words muffled, and it takes a while for Yuto to realise what it is.

“ _You promised._ ”

Yuto feels an ache in his chest, guilt flaring in him, just like that night in the rain, just like the time he’d decided to let Hyunggu stay, but it’s different now. Worse. Painful.

“I’m sorry,” he says, breathing ragged as he holds the boy tighter, rocking him back and forth, tears threatening to spill from his eyes. “I’m so sorry.”

Yuto runs a hot bath for him once he’s pulled himself together enough, because sitting there and crying isn’t going to do either of them any good. Hyunggu is silent as Yuto washes him, his face pale, his gaze empty, like the life’s been sucked out of him, and Yuto has to force himself not to cry right there, the sight of him like that making his heart break.

The bath doesn’t help much, the boy still trembling even once Yuto’s got him wrapped up in layers of clothes and blankets, skin still icy to the touch, and he refuses to eat or drink anything as well, just sitting on the bed quietly, body slumped weakly, looking halfway dead.

Yuto sits opposite him, swallowing his sobs, voice desperate when he says, “What can I do? Tell me what to do, Hyunggu.”

Hyunggu doesn’t say anything, instead, he reaches for Yuto’s hands, and Yuto tries not to jump when his cold skin meets his, letting Hyunggu hold their hands up in the small space between them, pushing his fingers through Yuto’s to grip onto him, and Yuto does the same. He doesn’t know how this is supposed to help, and he tries saying something, but Hyunggu hushes him as soon as he opens his mouth, so he shuts it again, watching as Hyunggu breathes in slowly.

And he doesn’t see it at first, too faint for him to make out, but it’s there, and once it starts burning bright, Yuto gasps. It’s like a string, a thin, flimsy thing binding their wrists together, glowing an almost blinding white, an unnatural heat radiating from it.

So _this_ is the bond Hyunggu had talked about, and Yuto can’t believe it’s actually real, feeling awful for ever doubting the boy in the first place.

Hyunggu’s eyes are closed now, the bond pulsing with energy, _Yuto’s_ energy, he realises, and for a moment, he thinks that Hyunggu’s taking his energy from him, not that he would mind, especially after the stunt he pulled, he’d give his entire life for Hyunggu to feel better, but no. When he feels it, _really_ feels it, Hyunggu isn’t taking his energy, he’s _sharing_ it. And slowly, but surely, the colour returns to Hyunggu’s cheeks, warmth spreading under his skin, the life coming back to him, and he finally breathes out.

 _It’s magical,_ Yuto thinks. _Hyunggu is magical._

“Thank you,” Hyunggu says once he finds his voice again, his gaze meeting Yuto’s, and he smiles. It’s not as bright, as happy as it always is, but it’s something, and that’s more than enough right now.

Yuto lets go of his hands to pull him into a hug, almost crushing the smaller boy in his arms, making him squeak, but he hugs Yuto back anyway, melting into his body, head resting against his shoulder.

“I’m sorry,” Yuto tells him again, and he feels Hyunggu nod, tightening his arms around his middle.

“It’s okay,” Hyunggu answers, and he means it. “Just don’t leave me like that again, okay?”

Yuto nods, sniffling just slightly, and he holds Hyunggu closer, like he’s afraid of letting him go, and he says, “I won’t. I’ll never leave you.”

They fall asleep after that, both exhausted from the whole ordeal, wrapped in each other’s arms, heads laid closely together, hearts beating in sync. And as much as Hyunggu is bound to Yuto, Yuto is bound the same to him now.

—

A month passes, and both of them forget that even the strongest of bonds has to break.


	3. III

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is way.. way.. WAY... overdue and i only have myself to blame bc i kinda dived into this then lost inspiration for it and left it alone for a pretty long time so... but ! it's about time that i finished it for those of you who have been waiting for the final part heh this chapter is pretty long, it's almost as long as the first two chapters combined and a lot happens soooo take your time reading! also half of this was written a long time ago and half of it was written very recently so i'm sorry if there are any parts that seem repetitive? i guess? idk and i haven't proofread the whole thing so it's probably a mess but i hope you all enjoy it anyway!

Yuto refuses to leave Hyunggu’s side after what happened, not even letting him bathe alone because he worries that something bad might happen again. He misses classes, work, ignores anyone that isn’t Hyunggu and it’s starting to get a little out of hand, honestly.

“I’m _fine,_ ” Hyunggu tells him, again and again and again, his smile bright, calm. “We just have to stick to the schedule like usual and it’ll be okay.”

Yuto sighs, bringing Hyunggu’s hands up to his face, pressing them against his cheeks. “Are you sure?”

For the hundredth time, Hyunggu nods, his thumbs brushing over his skin gently, telling him, “I’m sure. Don’t worry about me, Yuto-ya.”

But how could he not? After what happened, after he realised that their bond was actually real, that it could actually hurt Hyunggu, how could he not worry? How could he even focus in class knowing that Hyunggu’s all alone at home? How could he waste time standing behind a counter when he could be by Hyunggu’s side?

He doesn’t know how, but he doesn’t have much of a choice because Hyunggu decides that he won’t speak to him until he leaves the house. And Yuto had thought that he was joking, but the boy can be awfully stubborn when he wants to, keeping his mouth zipped for an entire day and a half before Yuto caves in and agrees to go to class for once.

“Finally!” Hyunggu calls out when he sees Yuto actually putting his coat on, slinging his bag over his shoulder, feet in his shoes, ready to go.

Yuto frowns at him, body slumping forward. “You make it sound like you’re sick of having me here.”

“I am,” Hyunggu quips teasingly, and he lets out a giggle when Yuto’s frown turns into a sulky pout, coming over to wound his arms around Yuto’s waist. “I’m just kidding. I like having you here, but you have things to do. You and I both know that.”

Yuto nods, his own arms sliding over Hyunggu’s shoulders to pull him in closer, hugging the small boy to his chest. “You’ll be okay, right?”

“I’ll be okay,” Hyunggu assures him, pulling away just enough to press a gentle kiss to his lips, and another, and one more just because. “Now, go.”

So, Yuto does, calling out a goodbye, telling Hyunggu that he’ll be back soon. But he doesn’t tell him that he’s got Wooseok waiting right outside the door in case there’s an emergency. He doesn’t tell him that he skipped his last class just so he could come home earlier. He doesn’t tell him that he quit his job permanently on his way home too. He doesn’t tell Hyunggu that he can’t bear to be away from him for even a second, that he’s afraid he’ll lose him if he does, that he never wants to lose him, because he doesn’t know what that means for him, for either of them.

—

“How’s Kino?” Hyojong asks him as they’re walking out of class, a curious glint in his eyes. “Or should I say Hyunggu?”

Yuto narrows his eyes at him. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, kitty Kino…” Hyojong’s lips twist into a knowing smirk, head tilting, eyebrow cocking. “Or human Hyunggu.”

Yuto feels his stomach drop. “W-What are you-”

“Come on, Yuto. I’m not an idiot,” Hyojong drawls out almost mockingly. “You have a ‘kitten’, but you don’t have any cat food, no litter box, and your couch doesn’t even have a single scratch on it.” He makes a huffy noise. “It’s just not realistic.”

“And your first assumption is that my cat is actually a human?” Yuto almost wheezes out, wondering how the hell he had come to that conclusion, of all things.

Hyojong shrugs, saying matter-of-factly, “I read a lot of folklore.” Then, taking in Yuto’s wide-eyed expression, he bursts out into wicked laughter, leaning over to smack his chest. “I’m just playing with you. Wooseok told me.”

“Wha-” Yuto’s nostrils flare, jaw clenching, and he asks, “Who else knows?”

“No one!” Then, eyes darting nervously, he admits, “Well… Hongseok.” He bares his teeth awkwardly. “And Hwitaek.”

“Hyung!”

Hyojong scrambles away before Yuto can hit him, saying, “I’m sorry! I just got a little excited! It’s not everyday you find out that the kitten you’ve been cat-sitting is actually a human shapeshifter!”

Yuto lunges forward to smack a hand over his mouth, eyes widening in warning. “Keep your voice down!” he hisses. “No one else needs to know.”

The elder mumbles something from behind his hand that Yuto can’t quite catch, so he lets him go, and he repeats himself, asking, “What about a party?”

“I don’t think-”

“That was a trick question,” Hyojong cuts in, snorting at him. “I already told everyone to come to yours at 8.”

“But Hyojong-”

“See you tonight!” he calls out, blowing an exaggerated kiss at Yuto as he bolts away before Yuto can even say no, and _fuck._

A party?

—

Yuto is as big of a fan of parties as he was of pets, meaning not a whole lot, because he barely has enough energy in him to keep up with his friends in school, let alone entertain them for an entire night where they’d probably be wasted and even more of a handful than they normally are. But he figures if he managed to convince himself to take Hyunggu under his wing, to care for someone other than himself, to push himself out of his own comfort zone for once, then he could handle a little party.

Hyunggu, however, isn’t all too excited about it, confusion etched on his face as he trails behind Yuto while he tries to make the apartment look decent.

“A party?” he asks, the word coming out like it was a curse. “With who?”

“My friends,” is Yuto’s answer, turning cushions over, kicking who knows what under the couch to be dealt with later because he’s too lazy to put it away properly right now.

Hyunggu plops himself onto the couch that Yuto’s just made up, earning a small glare that he ignores, saying, “You only have two friends.”

“Four, actually,” Yuto counters, as if that’s any better. He pauses, thinking. “And Shinwon, I guess.”

Hyunggu just rolls his eyes at that, stretching out his arms and he sighs. “So, I have to be a kitten tonight?”

“No, no, no, you can stay just like this,” Yuto tells him, coming over to clasp his hands over the boy’s cheeks. “They wanna meet you.”

“But-”

“They know.” Yuto winces when Hyunggu’s jaw pops open, squeezing his face in his hands in apology. “I’m sorry. Wooseok told Hyojong, Hyojong told the others, it’s just-”

Hyunggu’s surprise dissolves into annoyance, his cheeks puffing out, eyes narrowing thinly, looking like he’d have smoke coming out of his ears if he was in a cartoon. “I knew that giant had a big mouth.”

That gets a laugh out of Yuto, moving his hands up to ruffle Hyunggu’s hair instead, saying, “Well, it’s done and they’re coming, so we might as well just get it over with, okay?”

Hyunggu nods, but it’s stiff, reluctant almost. He looks up at Yuto, nose scrunching up nervously. “What if your friends don’t like me?”

“Why wouldn’t they-”

“I mean, what if they think I’m weird or something?” is what Hyunggu really wants to ask.

See, he’s been lucky, what with Yuto being so open minded and understanding about this whole thing, because he knows that there was a chance that Yuto could have thrown him out the second he realised what Hyunggu was, but he didn’t. Instead, he let him stay, took care of him even, but he knows not everyone is like that. Sure, Wooseok’s alright, the guy surprisingly taking things well once he had a chance to properly figure Hyunggu out. If he was being honest, at times, he might even call Wooseok his friend. But Hyunggu knows he can’t expect the same of all of Yuto’s friends, knows that there’s a possibility they might not like what they see once they’re here, not even Hyojong. Because Hyunggu’s heard it all; unnatural, strange, the work of the devil even. And the thought of putting himself at risk of hearing those things again leaves a heavy feeling in his gut.

“Maybe I should just stay in our room-”

“Hey, come on now.” Yuto sits down next to him, pulling him in by the shoulders, his hand rubbing up and down his arm in comfort. “It’s gonna be fine. My friends, they- They can be a little… _much,_ but they’re good people, I swear to you. They’ll love you.”

Hyunggu still looks unconvinced, so Yuto hugs him tighter, saying, “Look, we’ll just try it out and if you don’t feel up for it, or if anyone so much as looks at you the wrong way, I’ll kick everyone out and we can just watch a movie in bed or something, okay?”

It takes a while, but eventually, Hyunggu falls against Yuto’s chest, agreeing with a half-hearted, “Okay.”

Yuto smiles down at him, dropping a small peck to his head, squeezing him in his arms once more. “Good boy.” Then, he pats his thigh, getting up from the couch. “Now, go shower before they get here.”

“Shower with me?” Hyunggu asks, and well, if Yuto couldn’t say no to a party, then he definitely can’t say no to _that._

—

Hyojong’s the first to come, his loud voice being heard before they even open the door, and once they do, he immediately bounces over to Hyunggu to crush him in a hug, almost screaming, “Hyunggu! It’s so nice to meet you!”

Hyunggu’s arms stay limp at his sides, refusing to return his embrace, his expression dry when he says, “We’ve met.”

“Not like this,” Hyojong shoots back, pulling away only to manhandle Hyunggu like he was inspecting a toy, and Yuto would’ve stepped in if Hyunggu didn’t beat him to it, snapping at Hyojong’s hand, his human teeth even stronger than his feline ones, and Hyojong seems to get the hint, taking a step back.

“Sorry,” he says sheepishly, trying not to make it obvious that his hand is hurting. “It’s just- I can’t believe it’s really you! Our little Kino!”

Hyunggu gives him a thin smile, a sharp “Not so little now, huh?” on his tongue, stepping right up to him to show off the fact that Hyunggu is quite obviously taller than him, a nice change from always being so much tinier and powerless in comparison.

“Ah, I knew you’d be a feisty one!” Hyojong laughs gleefully, instead of taking offence. “You always got so cranky when you couldn’t catch your treats.”

Hyunggu gives him a pointed roll of his eyes at that, but despite himself, he lets himself smile for real.

Wooseok’s the next to show up, a handsome boy on his arm, almost as tall as he is. _Another giant,_ Hyunggu thinks. They come over to greet him while Yuto and Hyojong are gathering food in the kitchen, Wooseok patting his head, saying, “Hey, bud,” and the other guy only nodding politely from afar, telling him, “Sorry, I’m allergic to cats.”

“By allergic, he means scared,” Wooseok fake-whispers, and Hyunggu just laughs when the guy smacks Wooseok’s chest, a sour look on his face.

Shinwon is his name, Hyunggu learns a little while after, while he’s talking to the two of them, and although he isn’t too fond of the idea of Hyunggu as a kitten — “Don’t take it personally,” Wooseok tells him when Shinwon goes to get himself a drink. “He doesn’t really like most animals. Bad history.” — he’s more than fine with Hyunggu as a human, which is enough for him, he supposes.

The other two who come along a bit later on are the ones that Hyunggu is worried about, the ones that Hyunggu figures makes up the rest of the four friends Yuto mentioned. He doesn’t know them the way he knows Wooseok and Hyojong, and at least Shinwon has Wooseok to vouch for him. But these guys…

They’re already arguing as soon as they show up, which doesn’t exactly make Hyunggu feel any better, a frown curving his lips as he hangs onto Yuto’s side, hiding behind him just slightly.

“I’m just saying,” one of them almost groans, sounding rather exasperated. “This is coming from Wooseok and Hyojong. They _breathe_ bullshit.”

“Will you just open your mind for once-”

“I should be opening my mind to study, not for this-”

“Just give it a chance, you shi-”

“Hwitaek-hyung!” Yuto cuts in before he can finish that, clapping his hands together a little too loudly. He glances at the other elder, who looks like he’d rather be anywhere but here right now. He nods his head at him politely. “Hongseok-hyung.”

“I don’t believe it,” is the first thing Hongseok says to him, not even bothering with a proper hello, letting himself in like it was his own home. “There’s no such thing as shapeshifting.”

Yuto feels Hyunggu’s grip on him tighten nervously, and instinctively, he reaches over to brush his hand over Hyunggu’s, thumb running over his knuckles and he doesn’t know who he’s trying to comfort more.

“Why are you here then?” Yuto asks, something ticking in him, because he’d really rather not have someone barge into his home and accuse him of lying, even if it was his own friend.

“Hyojong forced me to come,” Hongseok says with a dirty scowl thrown at the mentioned, who just flips him off in return, saying, “It’s real. Fuck you if you don’t believe it.”

“I believe it,” Hwitaek pitches in, ducking to get a better look at Hyunggu from where he’s still hiding behind Yuto, offering a small smile. “It’s Hyunggu, right?”

Hyunggu manages a nod, and Hwitaek’s smile widens.

“I believe you, I do,” he says, then he jerks a thumb towards Hongseok, adding, “But this guy doesn’t, so maybe you could, I don’t know, show us something?”

A sense of defensiveness stirs in Yuto’s body, immediately moving to pull Hyunggu against his side almost protectively, his voice cold, cutting when he says, “He’s not some kind of party trick. He doesn’t have to do anything for anyone.”

Hwitaek’s eyes widen at that, head shaking quickly. “No, no, that’s not what I meant at all, I just thought-”

“This was a bad idea-” Yuto starts, but Hyunggu stops him with a tug on his arm.

“It’s okay,” he tells Yuto, his voice low enough for only him to hear. “I can just show them.”

“But-”

“I don’t want you to fight with your friends,” he says, sounding almost sorry, like he was the one stirring up trouble. Offering a tiny smile, just a hint of teasing in it, Hyunggu adds, “You don’t have that many of them to begin with.”

That pulls a weak laugh out of him, and he nods his green light, stepping away from Hyunggu to let him do his thing. And he’s nervous, it’s obvious, a slight shake in his hands and Yuto just wants to hold them, but he knows that Hyunggu needs to do this on his own, so he just gives him another encouraging nod when Hyunggu glances back at him, Wooseok and Hyojong providing support with bright grins and thumbs up, even if Hyojong has never seen Hyunggu shift for himself. Yuto appreciates that.

The others watch him with expectant gazes, Hongseok’s especially sharp, like he’s ready to call him out for fraud, and it adds to the pressure, on top of the fact that Hyunggu hasn’t shifted back to his cat form for a while now, never really having a reason to, his body already finding it difficult to transform itself from that of a human.

But it happens, Hyunggu’s body quivering, eyes closing before he morphs into a kitten again, his clothes falling into a heaped pile on the ground, his small head poking out of the collar of shirt, dark fur ruffled and Hwitaek gasps.

“He’s so…”

Yuto waits for it, for him to say something awful, ready to scoop Hyunggu up in his arms and take him away from these people, but then what Hwitaek says is, “Cute!”

A bubbly laugh escapes Hwitaek’s throat, kneeling down as he clicks his tongue, patting his lap to call Hyunggu over, and he’s hesitant, but he goes anyway, and once Hwitaek’s got him crawling up onto his shoulders, already friendly, Yuto feels his heart lighten.

Hongseok is still quiet, watching as Hwitaek plays with the kitten with wide eyes, like he still doesn’t quite believe it.

So Yuto calls Hyunggu back, nodding at him once more, and it’s easier for him to shift back into a human now, the exchange happening so quickly that none of them realised it’s happened until Hyunggu’s standing there stark naked, stretching out his limbs.

Most of them turn away, not accustomed to the boy’s nudity the way Yuto is, but Hyojong just whistles lowly, shooting a wink at Hyunggu, who gags at him in return, and Hongseok just stares at him, unblinking for a solid minute before he says, “I need a drink.”

Yuto redresses Hyunggu like he has so many times before, the boy adorably pliant in his hands, and he ignores the snickers and stares from his friends when he places a small kiss to Hyunggu’s cheek, whispering a kind thank you, one that Hyunggu returns with an understanding nod.

Yuto goes over to the kitchen to talk to Wooseok and Hyojong, about what exactly Hyunggu isn’t sure, but he has no choice but to stay behind with the others, to get ‘properly acquainted’, as Yuto puts it.

It’s awkward, to say the least, none of them knowing what to say, and Hyunggu can’t blame them. After all, to them, he’s just some stray that Yuto took in by chance, and to him, they’re all just strangers. Really, all he wants is to go hide in their room, the night already wearing him out even though it’s barely begun, but he forces himself to stay put, for Yuto’s sake.

Surprisingly, it’s Shinwon who breaks the silence, asking a question that Hyunggu doesn’t quite understand.

“So, are you and Yuto together or what?”

He frowns at that, head tilting to the side, confusion lacing his tone when he says, “Together?”

“Like, are you two boyfriends?” Shinwon clarifies, as if that made any difference.

“Boyfriends…?”

Shinwon lets out a huff of breath, trying to find a way to explain it to him, but all he can come up with is, “Like, Wooseok is my boyfriend, you know?”

 _Ah,_ Hyunggu thinks he knows what he means by that. There was something about the way those two acted around each other that was different from the way they were around the others. It was like they only saw each other, like no one else mattered. He’s seen it before, in the homes that he’s stayed in, with all kinds of people, but he’s never been able to put a name to it. He’d always just thought that, in a way, it was their version of the bond that binds him to people. He wonders if it’s the same with him and Yuto, whether they only saw each other, whether anyone else mattered.

He wonders, but he doesn’t dare do anything more than wonder, so all he can manage to say is, “Well, I- I don’t know.”

“It’s okay if you aren’t,” Hongseok chips in suddenly, speaking directly to Hyunggu for the first time that night. “Having a boyfriend isn’t the most important thing in the world. Like, see-” He gestures between him and Hwitaek. “Hwitaek and I used to be boyfriends. But then we broke up, and now, we just talk shit about each other behind our backs.”

Hwitaek shoots him a look. “I don’t!”

“Well, I do,” Hongseok retorts, unbothered, and despite himself, Hyunggu giggles along when Shinwon bursts into laughter at the pure offence written on Hwitaek’s face right then, the ice finally breaking, giving him a chance to feel a little more comfortable around them.

Yuto hears Hyunggu’s laughter echoing through the apartment, and he lets out a breath of relief. He’d been worried about leaving the boy alone with his other friends, worried he’d just panic and go into cat mode, but as soon as he hears him laugh, he knows he’s okay.

“Jesus, you really are so whipped for him, huh?” Hyojong voices out then, snapping him back to reality, and Yuto just scowls at him.

“What’s it to you?” he shoots back, busying himself with grabbing a bottle of beer before he gets too worked up, not wanting this night to end in a fight.

“Nothing,” Hyojong chimes, watching him with a sharp eye, sipping on his own drink carefully. “It’s just…”

His eyes flicker over to Wooseok, as if asking him to take over, and Wooseok almost sputters out his drink from the sudden attention, squirming under Yuto’s gaze now.

“Look, man,” he starts, keeping his tone casual. “You called me over to see your cat turn into a human, fine. You said you wanted to keep him, fine. You asked me to babysit him, fine. But-” He chews on his bottom lips nervously, concern clouding his expression. “Now you’re missing classes, you quit your job, you have me waiting outside your door like some fucking bodyguard… I just- What’s the deal here, Yuto?”

Yuto looks away, his hand tightening around his bottle, unsure how to answer him. He’d been very vague about the whole thing when he first explained to Wooseok why he had decided to keep Hyunggu, why he had needed him to come watch the boy, why he had to come back to check on him every few hours, and despite keeping him in the dark about most of it, Wooseok still helped him. So he figures he owes it to him to come clean now, a heavy sigh rattling his lungs.

“I’m… _bound_ to him,” is what Yuto tells them, no other way to put it, trying to make them see it the way he understands it. “Our energies are linked, so I can’t be away from him for too long, or else it drains his energy and makes him sick.”

Hyojong has a thoughtful look on his face, a hum of realisation in his voice when he asks, “Is that why you kept coming back to see us even though I told you we were fine?”

Yuto nods in answer. “I wasn’t sure if it was real at first, and I didn’t wanna take any chances. But there was one day when I overslept at the library, and when I got back, I found him practically half-dead on the bathroom floor and-” He grips the counter to steady himself, the image of Hyunggu like that still burning in his mind, that knife of guilt still twisting in his heart whenever he remembers it. “I didn’t know how to help him, then he just- He took my hands, and there was this- this string tying us together. It started glowing, and I could _feel_ him sharing my energy, and just like that, he got better. I don’t know how, but he got better and that’s all that mattered to me.”

He knows how he sounds, knows it’s fucking insane, and he wouldn’t be surprised if his friends just walked out on him right then, deciding that he’s truly lost it this time.

But then Wooseok just says, “The fact that this doesn’t freak me out in the slightest is a little worrying.”

And Hyojong agrees, adding, “Well, I guess that’s what happens after you see a cute boy poof into an even cuter kitten right in front of your eyes.”

Yuto looks up at them to see whether they were mocking him, but he’s met with nothing but kind eyes and understanding smiles, and he can’t help the way his throat closes up when he chokes out, “Guys, I don’t know what to do.”

They’re quick to console him, putting their arms around him from either side, letting him cry it all out, hoping that the laughter from the other group is enough to drown out his quiet sobbing. This whole time, he’d been forcing it down, his worries, his concerns, because he had to be strong for Hyunggu, for both of them. He’d pushed away any bad thoughts, somehow convincing himself that if he never thought about it, they’d never happen. But he knows that’s not true. He knows that sooner or later, that bond of theirs will break, and well, what happens then?

“I don’t wanna lose him,” Yuto says, just the thought of it making him sick to the stomach, bile rising up his throat.

“You won’t, Yuto-ya,” his friends tell him, and for his sake, he really hopes they’re right.

They hold him for a little while longer, until he can pull himself together, and despite being the reason behind this whole party in the first place, it’s Hyojong who says, “I think we should call it a night.”

Yuto’s grateful for that, trailing behind them quietly as Hyojong gathers the boys together, telling them to go home or to move the party elsewhere. He ignores the groans of protest that he gets in return, dragging them all out one by one, him and Wooseok giving both Yuto and Hyunggu a small hug before they leave, closing the door behind them.

“That wasn’t too bad,” Hyunggu says then, coming over to latch onto his arm, his head falling onto his shoulder.

Yuto automatically tugs him closer, leaning his own head onto his, only managing a half-hearted, “Mm-hm.”

That makes Hyunggu pull away, eyeing him with furrowed brows. “Is everything okay?”

 _No,_ Yuto wants to say. _Nothing’s okay. I’m not okay. You’re not okay. I could lose you. I_ will _lose you. I don’t want to lose you._

But what comes out is, “Yeah, everything’s fine.”

—

Hyunggu can’t seem to fall asleep, staring at Yuto with wide eyes, just like he had that first night they kissed. Yuto had shut his own eyes a long time ago, but he’s still just as awake as Hyunggu is, finding it difficult to lull himself to sleep without hearing the boy’s soft snoring, too used to having it be the last thing he hears before he slips under.

“What, Hyunggu?” he asks, his voice coming out lazy, dragging slowly, one eye cracking open to look at him.

“Y-You’re awake?” Hyunggu gulps, embarrassed that he’d got caught staring. “ _Sorry,_ I didn’t mean to- It’s nothing, I just-” He bites down on his tongue, shutting himself up. “Never mind.”

He’s about to turn away from Yuto, but Yuto’s hand finds its way to the small of his back, keeping him in place. He gives Hyunggu that look, the one he knows the boy can’t refuse, and it’s almost endearing how quickly he breaks, the words tumbling out of his mouth so quickly that Yuto doesn’t catch it at first.

“What was that?”

Hyunggu’s face flushes, like he doesn’t want to say it again, but he knows that Yuto won’t stop prying until he spits it out, so he does, asking, “Are we boyfriends?”

Yuto’s eyebrows shoot up at that, definitely not expecting that to be the question, wondering where that had even come from, but he lets a smile settle on his face, slightly amused.

“I don’t know, are we?” he counters, making Hyunggu even more confused, his cheeks puffing out.

He hums in thought, considering it, unsure what exactly being boyfriends entailed apart from Shinwon’s awfully vague explanations of it. “Well… What do boyfriends do?”

Yuto shifts closer to him, his forehead bumping against Hyunggu’s. “For starters, they like each other.” He pauses, narrowing his eyes. “You like me, right?”

That gets an eager nod from the boy.

“I like you too, kitten,” Yuto says, pecking the tip of his nose, making Hyunggu’s face scrunch up in that adorable way that it does, the boy surprisingly fond of the pet name.

“Boyfriends hold hands,” he continues, reaching for Hyunggu’s hand to make a point. “And hug, and kiss sometimes too.”

“We do all that,” Hyunggu comments, and Yuto agrees with a nod, his smile widening.

He brings Hyunggu’s hand up to press gentle kisses to each of his knuckles, a familiar gesture to both of them as he thinks about what else to say. “Oh, and they go on dates,” he adds, reminded of all the times Wooseok had called him up to ask where he should take Shinwon, as if Yuto had any experience in dating.

Hyunggu’s eyebrows knit together, lips pursing with uncertainty. “Have _we_ ever gone on a date?”

“No,” Yuto answers truthfully. Really, he’s never been on any dates, with anyone, never really having the desire to, but if he were to go on a date, he supposes going with Hyunggu wouldn’t be such a bad idea. He quirks a smile. “But we could.”

“So… If we go on a date, then we can be boyfriends?”

That makes Yuto laugh, the boy’s genuine innocence making his heart feeling a lot lighter than it was before, almost enough to completely lock away those bad thoughts again, and he tells him, “Yeah, Hyunggu, we can.”

—

So they do, Yuto telling Hyunggu that they’re going out that Saturday, and Hyunggu lifts his head from where he’s fiddling with the tv remote, a look of surprise on his face.

“Aren’t you going to work?” is what he asks, pretty sure that Yuto had agreed to start going back to both classes _and_ work like normal again this week.

Yuto waves him off, muttering, “I quit,” as if it wasn’t a big deal.

Hyunggu frowns at that, getting up to walk over to him, arms crossing over his chest. “Why?” he asks, a tinge of disappointment in his voice. “It’s not because of me, is it?”

“No,” Yuto is quick to say, but Hyunggu doesn’t seem to believe him, eyebrow arching high, and he runs a tongue over his teeth awkwardly, blurting out, “Okay, fine, _yeah,_ it was because of you.”

“Yuto-”

“But I- I’ve been meaning to quit for ages!” Yuto tries to tell him, a weak attempt at defending himself. “You just gave me a real reason to.” He winces when he realises how that sounds, not wanting Hyunggu to take it as him being a burden or anything like that, and he sighs, hands settling on his shoulders. “Look, it’s _fine,_ I hated the place and it wasn’t like I was making that much money from it anyway. So, might as well just stay with you, right?”

Hyunggu presses his lips together, staying silent for a moment or two, maybe three, before he finally lets out a defeated huff of breath, grumbling out, “You’re really clingy, you know that?”

Yuto just grins at that, pinching both his cheeks before he steals a quick kiss. “You’re no better, you know that?”

He grabs a coat he’d borrowed from Hyojong, putting it around Hyunggu, because as cute as the boy looks in his oversized clothes, he needs something snug to keep him warm and Hyojong had been more than happy to lend him one of his old jackets, saying that it had gone out of style anyway.

“Now, come on, we have a date to go on.”

The mention of a date is enough to make Hyunggu forget about Yuto’s unemployment, his face lighting up almost immediately, excitement ringing clear when he says, “We’re really going on a date?”

Yuto nods, a fondness tugging at his heartstrings as he watches the way the boy bounces up and down as they head out, saying, “Yeah, I said we would, right?”

Hyunggu makes a noise between a squeal and a screech, quite obviously pleased that he’s finally leaving the house for the first time since he came, and Yuto feels bad for keeping him cooped up in there for so long. He isn’t sure where to go, though, because he’s just as new to this whole dating thing as Hyunggu is, and Wooseok hadn’t been very helpful with his suggestions, telling Yuto to just take him to get some ice cream since he loves it so much.

“It’s winter,” he had stressed, rolling his eyes even though his friend couldn’t see him over the phone.

“So what? Cats are warm blooded, right?” Wooseok had said in response, and Yuto couldn’t help but roll his eyes again.

“So are humans, dumbass. Do you even know what that means?”

“It means their blood is warm… Right? Whatever, just- Go have some ice cream.”

And apparently, Yuto is just as much of an idiot as Wooseok is because he does end up taking Hyunggu to get ice cream at this little parlour he’s passed by a few times. The boy lets out a loud gasp when he sees all the different flavours on display, bright colours and sweet toppings, cups and cones in stacks that are taller than him. He practically plasters himself to the window, bug-eyed as he takes in the mountains of ice cream, his breath fogging up the glass when he asks, “Which ones are the nicest?”

“I don’t know,” Yuto tells him truthfully, not particularly a fan of ice cream, and he leans forward to rest his chin on Hyunggu’s shoulder, nudging his head, their cheeks pressed together. “But you can try them.”

“All of them?”

Yuto laughs. “If you want.”

So he does, taste testing every single flavour there is, going back to taste the ones he likes a couple more times. The lady behind the counter is surprisingly patient as he does, giving him spoon after spoon after spoon, and it might be because there’s no one else in the store, but Yuto has a feeling that it might have something to do with the fact that Hyunggu makes the cutest sounds every time he finds a flavour that suits his liking, his face scrunching up in the most adorable way.

Hyunggu finally decides on three different flavours, the large scoops piled up onto each other on top of a chocolate dipped cone, covered with sprinkles and gummy bears and Yuto gets a toothache just by looking at it, but Hyunggu looks like the happiest boy in the world when the lady hands the sugary monstrosity to him, so he sighs in defeat and pays for it anyway.

“So,” Hyunggu says to him once they’re out of the store, his mouth full, one hand holding his dessert, the other hooked onto Yuto’s arm. “What do people usually do on dates?”

Yuto sucks in a sharp breath, sending a quick glance over at him, and he lets out an awkward chuckle. “I wouldn’t know,” he answers. “I’ve never actually been on one.”

“Wait.” Hyunggu pulls them to a halt, looking up at Yuto with wide eyes, a small gasp in the back of his throat. “I’m your first date?”

Yuto reaches up to scratch the back of his neck, his face flushing out of embarrassment, looking away. “W-Well, yeah, I guess. I mean- It’s not a big deal or-” He grabs Hyunggu’s ice cream, practically shoving it in his own face to shut himself up before he starts blabbering about how before Hyunggu came along, he was too much of a recluse to ever interact with anyone other than the few friends he had, none of which he had ever considered dating.

Hyunggu grabs at his wrist, surprisingly strong as he tugs Yuto’s hand away, and at first, Yuto thinks he just wants his ice cream back, but then he smiles, shy, sweet. “I’m your first date,” he says again, not a question this time, but a statement. “That’s kinda cute, Yuto-ya.”

Before Yuto can even open his mouth to speak, Hyunggu says, “Hold on, you have a little something-” and he closes the space between them, his tongue darting out to lick ice cream off the tip of Yuto’s nose, making him freeze in his spot, his cheeks burning even brighter than before.

“Come on then,” Hyunggu chirps, turning back to start walking again, as if he hadn’t literally just _licked_ Yuto’s nose in public. And Yuto is forced to just go along with him, stumbling over his own feet as he tries to snap himself out of his daze, trying not to think about the feeling of Hyunggu’s tongue on his skin.

Yuto’s so out of it that Hyunggu ends up being the one taking the lead, dragging them here and there and anywhere that catches his attention; a stall selling fried food to warm him up after his cold dessert, a crowded courtyard where a group of street dancers are putting on a performance, a shelter with these little creatures bouncing around in the front. Hyunggu rushes over to press himself up against the glass window just like he had at the ice cream parlour, letting out a gleeful hello when he sees the cats crawling up to the window to greet him.

“What if we got a cat?” Hyunggu asks suddenly, not even turning to look at Yuto, too focused on the animals, his hand drawing patterns onto the glass, giggling to himself when they follow the movements of his finger.

“I have a cat,” Yuto answers pointedly, leaning against the window with his arms crossed, looking down at Hyunggu with arched eyebrows.

Hyunggu angles his head up for the sole purpose of rolling his eyes at him. “You have _me._ ” He turns back to the window. “We should get a real cat.”

“Hate to break it to you, buddy, but you _are_ a real cat,” Yuto snorts, reaching over to shove his head playfully. “One’s enough for me.”

“But what if I want a friend?” Hyunggu tries to argue, but all Yuto says to that is, “You have Wooseok. Hyojong too.”

“Those are _your_ friends.”

“Well, then, you have me.”

Hyunggu huffs at that, his lips pouting rather obviously, but he knows that Yuto won’t budge on this, no matter what he says, so he crouches down to look at a tiny brown tabby, waving at it sadly, and before the drama queen starts bursting into tears, Yuto has to pull him away, moving them along.

“Why do you need another friend anyway? Are you that bored of me already?” is what Yuto asks, his tone teasing, but there’s a hint of uncertainty hidden behind it, his eyes flickering nervously.

“You’re not my friend,” Hyunggu answers, and Yuto is almost offended, but then the boy leans over to nudge his side, tilting his head up cutely to say, “You’re my _boy_ friend.”

Yuto feels a stupid smile pull at the corners of his mouth, but he manages to keep his composure, his voice cool when he shoots back, “Oh, really? Just like that?”

Hyunggu nods his head firmly. “You said if we went on a date then we could be boyfriends, right?”

“Right,” Yuto says, and the way Hyunggu sounds so sure of himself makes it hard for him to hold back his grin any longer, a giddy feeling bubbling up inside him, threatening to spill out in waves of happiness.

Hyunggu matches his smile, eyes crinkling up into crescents, and right then, it's like they could only see each other, like no one else mattered.

“So we’re boyfriends then!” Hyunggu decides, and Yuto practically sweeps the boy off his feet, spinning him around in his arms, Hyunggu letting out the biggest, brightest laugh he’s ever heard in his life. And Yuto knows he probably looks like a lovesick fool, one he swore he’d never become, but he doesn’t think he cares. Because he’s got a boyfriend now. Because Hyunggu is his boyfriend now.

And right then, everything seems a little perfect.

But perfect can only last for so long.

—

Yuto doesn’t know how it happened. It wasn’t like there was an exact moment that he could pinpoint, there was no trigger, no outburst. It was more like a silent storm that came over them, one that just kept going and going and going, until they were drowning in it.

He had tried to ignore it at first, tried convincing himself that it was nothing, that he was just overthinking things. But over time, there was no denying the fact that Hyunggu was distancing himself from Yuto, to the point that it felt like they were complete strangers.

They didn’t sleep in the same bed anymore, Hyunggu finally deciding to reclaim his spot on the couch after months of leaving it abandoned, even though they both knew he spent every night wide awake, finding it impossible to find sleep without Yuto by his side. Still, Hyunggu had insisted on sleeping there, had practically clawed his way out of sleeping with Yuto when he tried to drag him back into bed and eventually, Yuto gave up and just closed his eyes.

Hyunggu stayed clear of him, going out of his way to make sure that they hardly crossed paths, which was difficult in such a small space, but he made it work. The only times they ever saw each other was when Yuto left for classes in the morning and when he came back in the evening. Hyunggu refused to even show his face whenever Yuto came to check on him in between that, and at times, Yuto felt like he didn’t want to come home at all. At times, he felt like Hyunggu wouldn’t even care if he didn’t.

Yuto couldn’t touch him anymore either, the boy flinching away from him whenever he did so much as reach out to him, as though he was ice and Yuto was a fire that was threatening to melt him down into nothing. Hyunggu curled up into himself whenever they were forced to be near, his movements careful, calculated, always making sure that they never even brushed each other in the slightest. And like he was a starved animal, Yuto found himself digging into the farthest corners of his mind to bring back the feeling of Hyunggu’s hands in his, his lips on his own, his tongue against his skin. Anything to just feel him again.

Hyunggu wouldn’t talk to him, wouldn’t even speak a word apart from ‘yes’ or ‘no’ when he had to, his lips sealed shut like someone had glued them together. It was quiet, too quiet, feeling empty without the boy’s constant laughter ringing through the house, without his soft singing that would sometimes float around the place like a distant melody, without his curious voice asking Yuto all kinds of questions about this and that and anything that ever came to his mind. Yuto had told himself that he’d lived in a quiet home on his own for years, so it shouldn’t be any different now, but the silence was loud in a way that it shouldn’t be, suffocating, overwhelming, pressing in on him so much that he felt like he wouldn’t be able to breathe until he heard Hyunggu call his name again. Just once.

And one day, like nothing had ever happened, he hears it.

“Yuto?”

It’s too soft for him to make out at first, seeming almost like a figment of his imagination, until Hyunggu says it again, louder this time, but more hesitant, unsure, like he had no right to have his name on his tongue.

“Y-Yuto?” he says, shaky voice carrying across the room from where he was standing in the doorway, blanket wrapped around him tightly like a shield. “Are you awake?”

Yuto wants to ignore him, wants to pretend he doesn’t exist, just like Hyunggu had done to him these past few weeks. He wants to be mad, to be upset, hurt. He should be hurt. But he hears Hyunggu’s voice, sees him right there, so close, and he can’t find the heart to turn away from him.

“Yeah, I’m awake,” Yuto says, sitting up, throat clearing. “I’m always awake.”

“Can I-”

The question is unspoken, but they both know what he’s asking, what he wants, and despite everything, despite being shunned by Hyunggu, being treated like he was no one to him, Yuto can’t help but want the same thing. He can’t help but feel an aching need for the boy, clawing at him from the inside out, blinding him to everything else.

Right then, all he wants, all he needs is Hyunggu.

So, Yuto says, “Yeah, you can,” and Hyunggu is there in a heartbeat, almost tripping on his blanket as he rushes over to the bed, _their_ bed, practically falling onto it, his small body immediately fitting itself against the curve of Yuto’s body, arms snaking around his middle, head nuzzling into his chest.

And Yuto feels like he can finally breathe again, his own arms winding around the boy, pulling him closer, relishing in the contact that they’d both been deprived of for so long. He thinks he hears Hyunggu say sorry, but he doesn’t think he cares about what he has to apologise for. He’s just glad that he’s got him back when he had thought that he’d lost him for good.

But it makes him wonder, if Hyunggu had turned away from him once, who’s to say that he won’t do again? And he wonders, wonders, wonders, what if there comes a day where Hyunggu won’t come back to him anymore?

They both cry that night, but at least, they finally find sleep again.

—

It’s like a switch had flipped. If Hyunggu had been shutting Yuto out before, now, it was the complete opposite. Hyunggu became awfully attached to Yuto, constantly clinging onto him, stuck to his side like they were joined at the hip. He only ever separated himself when Yuto had to go to class, walking him all the way down to the building lobby to say goodbye, waiting by their door to greet him every time he came home. Yuto couldn’t even go to the bathroom without Hyunggu trailing behind him like a shadow.

But Yuto doesn’t mind it, not really, because after those torturous weeks of isolation, the endless attention from the boy was more than a relief, a reminder that Hyunggu was still his. At least, he hopes he’s still his.

Yuto had thought about it, had wondered what made Hyunggu push him away the way he did. He wondered if it was because he was always away from home, if Hyunggu felt neglected by him, so much that he would close himself off completely. But Hyunggu refused to talk about it, refused to acknowledge it even, acting like the entire thing never even happened. And sometimes, Yuto liked to pretend that it never happened either.

See, if it were up to Yuto, he’d just stay home everyday, laze around with Hyunggu like they had nothing better to do, keeping him close so that he won’t ever lose him again. But well, it’s not up to him. He’s already lagging behind in school and before he knows it, his work starts to pile up again, forcing him to stay awake through most nights to catch up on everything that he’s missed.

“Aren’t you coming to bed yet?” Hyunggu asks through a yawn when Yuto’s up a little later than usual, his eyes only half open as he comes over to his study table, running a gentle hand down Yuto’s hunched spine.

Yuto instinctively relaxes under his touch, stretching out his back, his arms, a hand fitting itself onto Hyunggu’s cheek.

“I just need to finish a bit more work,” he says, quirking a tired smile, thumb brushing over his skin. “You can go ahead and sleep first.”

Hyunggu frowns at that, hand tugging at the bottom of Yuto’s shirt. “I can’t,” he mumbles out, leaning into Yuto’s touch. “I need to sleep with you.”

Yuto’s heart warms at that, and he feels a little bad because he knows how difficult it is for him to sleep alone, but- “I’m sorry, Hyunggu-ya, I really need to finish this.”

He expects Hyunggu to give up, to just go back to their room and at the very least, lie awake while he waits for Yuto to come to bed, instead of just standing there like a zombie. But then Hyunggu doesn’t leave. Instead, he pushes Yuto’s chair back a little, sitting right on top of his open lap, hugging his own legs up to his chest so that he’s balled up against Yuto’s body. He seems so small like this, so fragile, and it must be comfortable, or maybe he’s just really tired, but Hyunggu is already drifting off to sleep right there and then. And though Yuto finds it a bit hard to reach his laptop properly, he doesn’t dare move the boy, letting him rest, his chin falling on top of Hyunggu’s head.

It takes Yuto at least another hour before he actually manages to settle a decent amount of work, Hyunggu already fast asleep, and his body feels numb by the time he tries to stand, an arm hooking under Hyunggu’s knees, another propping up the boy’s neck, his movements slow to keep from waking him. Still, Hyunggu stirs when Yuto tries to set him down on the bed, waking in a panic, immediately grabbing onto Yuto like his life depended on it.

“Whoa, hey-” Yuto’s arms circle him again quickly, hands rubbing over his back in an attempt to calm him down. “What’s up?”

Hyunggu’s breathing is uneven, fingers still grasping onto the back of Yuto’s shirt like he’s afraid to let go. “Where are you going?” His voice is laced with something that sounds almost like fear. “Are you leaving me?”

“Leaving you-” Yuto pulls him closer, tighter. “What are you talking about?”

“Nothing, I- I just thought-”

“You thought I was leaving you?” Yuto gently pries Hyunggu off of him, hands coming up to cradle his face instead, a little harder than he means to, his fingers digging into the boy’s skin. “Why would you think that?”

Hyunggu tries to turn away, tries to avoid his eyes, but Yuto’s grip on him is strong, his gaze even stronger.

“ _Hyunggu._ ” He knows he might be coming off stern, frustrated even, but really, he has a right to be. After everything, he has a right to be. “What’s going on with you, huh? First, you give me the cold shoulder for weeks, and now, you’re acting like you can’t be away from me for two fucking seconds.”

Hyunggu gulps at the sudden harshness, eyes wide, like a deer caught in headlights. “A- Are you mad at me?”

“I’m not-” Yuto bites his tongue, letting out a sound between a sigh and a groan, his hold on Hyunggu going slack. “I’m not _mad_ at you, Hyunggu. I just- I don’t understand why you’ve been like this. It’s confusing me, and I wish you’d just _talk_ to me.”

Hyunggu seems to fidget uncomfortably, and Yuto knows what he’s doing before it even happens, exasperation clear on his face when he feels the boy disappear from under his hands, morphing into his feline form, immediately running to hide under the covers, avoiding any further confrontation.

It reminds Yuto of that first day that they’d properly met, Hyunggu being too afraid to speak to him, shying away from him and as much as his patience is being tested right now, Yuto knows that Hyunggu doesn’t respond well to force, so he uses the same gentle tone he used back then to coax him out, hand reaching out to pat him.

“Hyunggu-ya…” he starts, voice soft. “We’ve talked about this, right? You can’t just turn into a cat whenever you don’t want to talk to me.” He gets a sad, almost hurt meow in response and the sound of it makes his heart ache, feeling guilting for raising his voice against him earlier. “I promise I’m not angry at you. I just want you to talk to me, okay? Please talk to me.”

It takes a moment or two, and just a bit more persuading, but eventually, Hyunggu shifts back, wrapping his bare body with the blanket, head hung low. Yuto’s fingers hook under his chin, tilting his face up slowly, ducking his own head to meet his eyes, offering a small smile, one that Hyunggu tries to return, not quite reaching his eyes.

“What’s going on, hmm?” Yuto asks again, barely a murmur, thumb brushing along his jaw. “Tell me what’s going on.”

Hyunggu presses into his touch, eyes fluttering shut, breathing in deeply. “You remember the other day when you hung out with Wooseok and Hyojong? And you were out longer than usual?”

Yuto takes a second to recall it, but he remembers, and as soon as it hits him, his stomach drops. “Was I gone too long?” He sits upright, panic bubbling up in him, breathing growing short. “Did- Did you get sick again? Is that why you pushed me away? Shit, Hyunggu, why didn’t you say so-”

“No,” Hyunggu is quick to say, head shaking, eyes snapping open. “No. See, that- that’s the thing, Yuto. I didn’t get sick.”

“What-”

“I _didn’t_ get sick,” he repeats, firmer this time, voice strained. “Don’t you get it?”

Yuto stares at him blankly, unsure where he’s going with this. “Get what? I don’t understand…”

Hyunggu tries to explain it, but his words seem to fail him, and instead, he grabs Yuto’s hands, lacing their fingers together between them just like he had when he got sick the first time, focusing his energy there. Yuto watches as the string around their wrists begins to glow, but it’s faint, so, so faint, like if he didn’t know it was there, he wouldn’t have seen it at all. He blinks, then it’s gone.

And now, Yuto understands.

“You didn’t get sick…” He sounds weak, hands falling away from Hyunggu’s. “Because you’re not linked to me anymore. Because the bond, it- it’s broken now, isn’t it?”

Hyunggu nods numbly, keeping his own hands in his lap, shaking just slightly. “It’s been three months, Yuto,” he says, voice small. “It shouldn’t have lasted this long. I shouldn’t have been here this long.”

“Don’t say that-”

“That’s why I cut you off,” Hyunggu admits before Yuto can continue, looking ashamed of himself. “When I realised that the bond was weakening, I tried to keep myself away from you, learn to get used to being on my own again. I thought it’d make it hurt less when I had to leave.” He laughs, but it’s hollow, broken. “But I couldn’t stand it. And I know you couldn’t either. Seeing you hurt because of me, I- I couldn’t do that anymore. So, I figured, you know, if I’m gonna go, then I might as well make the best of what little time I had left. That’s why I became so clingy all of a sudden. I just wanted to enjoy what I had while I could. This, us, _you._ ”

Yuto feels his heart throb in his chest at the thought of Hyunggu forcing himself to stay away from him, how lonely that must’ve felt. But he doesn’t know why Hyunggu keeps talking about leaving, why he feels like he has to go.

“But now you know the truth,” Hyunggu sighs, that sad smile lacing his lips again, eyes wet with tears. “Now you know the bond is broken. So, you’re free, Yuto-ya. You don’t have to put up with me anymore. You don’t have to pretend to be my boyfriend anymore. You can let me go, break up with me and- and talk shit about me behind my back.”

Yuto blinks, wondering if he heard that right, head tilting in confusion. “Who told you that?”

Hyunggu is hesitant to say it, averting his eyes, but then he mutters out, “Hongseok,” and Yuto can’t help but laugh, coming out in a breathless wheeze, saying, “Oh my god, I’m never letting you meet my friends again.”

He’s still laughing as he pulls Hyunggu in for a hug, holding him against his chest, Hyunggu’s own arms limp at his sides, wondering why Yuto’s hugging him when he should be getting rid of him. After all, the only reason he kept Hyunggu around was because of the bond, so now that it’s done, why should he even bother with Hyunggu? He’d said it himself, he couldn’t exactly afford to care for anyone other than himself, even more so now that he’s out of a job. Still, he’d found a way to manage for Hyunggu’s sake, but he didn’t need to do that anymore. He should just send Hyunggu back out into the world and they’d both go back to being on their own, just like how it was supposed to be.

So Hyunggu doesn’t know why Yuto’s still hugging him right then, rocking him back and forth in his arms, saying, “Ah, Hyunggu-ya, what am I going to do with you?”

“You’re gonna send me away, aren’t you?” Hyunggu mumbles into his shirt, sounding awfully downhearted. “You’re finally getting rid of me?”

Yuto laughs again, the sound a bright contrast to Hyunggu’s miserable voice, and he can’t believe that Hyunggu would even think for a second that Yuto would do that to him, that he would even consider it. All this time, he’d thought that once the bond was broken, it would be Hyunggu who wanted to be set free, who wanted to finally get away from Yuto and his sorry excuse of a home and the burdening routine that they were stuck with. But it seems that despite all that, Hyunggu wants to stay with him just as much as he wants him to. And man, is he grateful for that because those weeks where Hyunggu had become like a ghost in their home, like he was there, but not there, Yuto could barely make it through the day. He wouldn’t know what he would do if Hyunggu were to leave him for good. But he never has to find out, because if Hyunggu still wants him, and he still wants Hyunggu, then there’s no other answer, is there?

“You’re not going anywhere,” Yuto tells him, shuffling back to look at him properly, taking his hands in his own. “I’m not letting you go, I’m not breaking up with you, I’m definitely not talking shit about you behind your back. Because you and me, we- we’re together, right?” He tugs on Hyunggu’s hands to get a response. “Right?”

All Hyunggu can manage is a nod.

“Bond or no bond, we’re still together,” Yuto says, smiling at him. “You’re still mine, Hyunggu-ya.” And finally, Hyunggu lets himself smile back, a real smile this time, full and bright, cheeks lifting, eyes twinkling.

Yuto leans in to kiss him, slow, gentle, hands moving up to rest on the base of his neck, Hyunggu scooting closer, his hands sliding over Yuto’s thighs, latching onto his hips. He’s gotten a lot better at this since the first time they kissed, no more teeth clashing or tongue biting, just soft lips and sweet kisses, and Yuto couldn’t imagine a world where he wouldn’t get to have this anymore. This, them, _Hyunggu._

And he says, “You’re still mine, and whenever, forever, right now, I’m yours.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry that jinho and 96z practically don't exist in this fic lol i couldn't find anywhere to slot them in...
> 
> (or alternatively, a certain brown tabby that hongseok decides to adopt from the shelter is actually a cute little guy named jinho and hongseok may or may not have fainted when he turned into a human, and hwitaek is pleasantly surprised when the twin puppies he brought home turn out to be a pair of adorable boys called changgu and yanan) (hyunggu finally got some friends of his own after all)
> 
> thank you for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> comments and kudos are very much appreciated! :)
> 
> you can find me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/ao3kino) or [curious cat](https://curiouscat.me/ao3kino)


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